to think this is an awful school dinner menu?

[sparkle12mar08]

in a primary school? Chips, roast potatoes, or fried potato cubes available every single day according to the pictures. And a variation on sausage, pizza, or fishfingers for three of the main meals every single week?

The potato choice I'm disappointed with but unfortunately not surprised at - our county's meals are part supplied by McCain for goodness sake. I just think there must be a way pf producing better quality meals than this.

Needless to say I've put ds1 on packed lunches for the term!

yes that is rubbish!

our school do their own dinners using fresh, local where possible, ingredients.

cottage pie
fish pie
cheesy pasta bake
sweet and sour chicken/curry
chilli
meat or veggie pie (pastry)
sausages
spag bol
fish fingers

they have a roast once a week and chips once a week, but JPs available every day as an option too.

there is fruit and yogurt every day and a certain amount of the main pudds have to be fruit based - eg fruity flapjack, crumble, spotted dick

there is a salad bar as well as a choice of 2 hot veg every day

and a dinner costs £2

It isn't great, but TBH is just up my DDs street. She refuses all potato except roast, chips, wedgies or croquettes. If you offered her a jacket, boiled or mashed she would laugh.
It is for that reason she takes a packed lunch.

i don't think it's great no. just got out our school menu and having a look through. they get chips once a week and jacket wedges once a week too but both of these have the option of pasta instead. in fact mine sounds same, price too, as ashamedandconfused.

stick with the packed lunches if your happy with it and if your son does start nagging for school dinners (maybe friends have them) you could possibly do the option of him having one or two school dinners per week (picking the healtheir option days!)

*healthier

We get a lot of that too ashamed - jacket potatoes available, roast once a week, pasta based meal once a week, fruit and yoghurt available, fruity puddings, salad bar, 2 hot veg etc. But when you look really closely at the menu it's all a bit lacking. They can't have fruit and yoghurt only one or the other, and they can't even have that if they have a 'proper' pudding either. They can't have salad if they've had hot veg for example. And not every child will choose jacket or mash over chips/fried potato product each time. But it's the mains that I think are the most limited. Fish fingers, breaded fish, pizza, cheese and tomato open slice (aka pizza), sausages, 'pork patties' (aka sausages without the skin on). And the way they're integrated into the menu is such that children are able to choose them up to three times a week, as opposed to choosing between them once a week for example.

Am very disappointed indeed this term.

(will say it does really bug me tho' that the puds on the school menu are sometimes chocolate based - have NO problem with that however the packed lunch children aren't allowed anything chocolate in their lunch boxes. otherwise it gets confiscated and sent home! so whilst school dinner kids are today tucking into chocolate shortcake with custard, the unlucky packed luncher who has tried to sneak in a two finger kitkat will lose his or her prize! Seems you can only have a choccie treat at school if you are paying the council for it).

I get annoyed at school lunches too. I love that our school uses fresh ingredients etc, BUT my now-6yr-old would NEVER EVER choose to have veg on his plate, but if it was given to him as part of his meal, he would eat a little bit of it. He was also never ever choose an apple over a yoghurt. For drinks, they have the choice of plain milk, water, fruit juice or flavoured milk.
SO he'd have for lunch - pizza and smiley faces, followed by yoghurt or a cookie, and strawberry milk!!! I wish the parents could choose their meals for them!

We have chips once in a 3 week cycle, mash, baked, roasted, boiled and wedges are offered on different days too. Pizza is now offered once a week but is home made with a wholemeal base. They get offered different breads and a bowl of salad every day and if soup is offered the pudding is fruit but no soup days is a cake and custard type thing and fruit as the options.

we have really good school menus at my sons school. they have food from all over the world, north africa, china, africa...i only let him have school dinners once a week, on fridays chip day! sometimes he will have it another day if i have forgotten something he needs for his packed lunch!

i dont see what the issue with roast pots are at all.... they are lovely

Yes that is pretty bad. Which county is it? This is the Surrey menu and I think it is quite good. In my dd's school the meals are cooked from scratch (even the bread) on the school premises.

That is poor....like other our school has plenty of rice, pasta featured...chips on a friday.

There is also soup or sandwiches on offer sesonally for those who are veggie as they are offered meat or fish in the main meal daily.

Really Zukiecat? I thought it looked great.

Apparently the local authorities have to offer a certain number of healthy options but they / the contractors sometimes get round that to keep costs down eg fresh fruit is healthy but not the cheapest option for them to provide, so they offer it on a day when the other option is a popular choice like chocolate sponge. This means they can say they've offered fresh fruit, but without having to pay for much of it because they can rely on lots of kids choosing chocolate instead. I'm sure there are plenty of other similar ruses.

I have to say its not good. My sons school offers really lovely meals and all ver nutritious . @ £2 per day I think is a really good price as well

DS1 infant school also has a very weird way of doing their menu - they'll do things like have pizza - and then serve it with pasta. Or pasta and serve it with potatoes. Whoever is doing the menu doesn't seen to have the wherewithal to think - ooh pizza, that's already got its carbs built in. They do a meat and a veggie option, then work out carbs for one regardless of whether or not it goes together.

I was thinking about complaining about it - but then when I was talking about it, DH (who loves all things involving potato, pasta etc) thought it sounded good [piggysnork smiley] so I just figured it was probably a man that made the menu and couldn't be bothered (also a bit worried about being seen as a complaining mum as have 'asked' about other stuff going on at school)