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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to not want to pay £1 per day for my child to eat packed lunch at school

134 replies

cestlavielife · 04/09/2013 14:30

school have decied those who bring packed lunch should pay £1 per day to sit and eat it in the canteen...(run by a private contractor)

if they provide juice/fruit for my child yes i would pay.

but not for just the space?

OP posts:
wigglesrock · 04/09/2013 14:40

That's ridiculous - I've 2 kids, that would be £10 a week, that would seriously eat into my budget.

Original poster
cestlavielife · 04/09/2013 14:41

it is State but isnt - it is a foreign language school in uk - so sponsored by the state of that country . students of that nationality pay a matriculation fee of 250£ per year.

lunches are £3.85 per day - but canteen is run by a private contractor

there is rough equivalent of governors/parent reps etc- but not same powers as governors in uk schools. cannot see evidence they been consulted...

OP posts:
mrspaddy · 04/09/2013 14:41

No way... Few parents need to get together

chocoluvva · 04/09/2013 14:43

Could they eat in a classroom instead?

They have to have somewhere to eat their lunch!

CocacolaMum · 04/09/2013 14:43

£3.85 a day. That's one of the highest figures I have heard for a school dinner.

is this £1 charge a definite thing, not just playground chatter I mean?

TheProsAndConsOfHitchhiking · 04/09/2013 14:44

That is shocking op!

BrokenSunglasses · 04/09/2013 14:44

Has the school give you any explanation at all about what the money is supposed to pay for?

Maybe they make a small profit for the school from school dinners, and they are effectively losing money if students choose packed lunch.

WilsonFrickett · 04/09/2013 14:45

That is bonkers! You MUST complain.

Mumof3xx · 04/09/2013 14:46

Gosh our dinners are 9.95 pw each and I refuse to pay that

That would be near £20 a week for me and no way so I spend that on packed lunches

Morgause · 04/09/2013 14:47

Maybe it's a contribution towards the cost of lunchtime supervision.

complexnumber · 04/09/2013 14:47

If this for real then it is pure profiteering.

Would it be possible to involve the Embassy/Consulate of the relevant state if they are sponsoring the school.

MissStrawberry · 04/09/2013 14:48

We have to pay £1.50 a day for our child to have space to eat a packed lunch. So £3 a day for nothing plus provide packed lunch or £7 a day for the 2 of them to have a school lunch which by their account isn't great.

BrokenSunglasses · 04/09/2013 14:51

It sounds like its technically a private school, it's just being funded in a more unusual way. If that's the case, then they can charge what they want to.

Topseyt · 04/09/2013 14:58

So, you are being asked to pay for the privilege of letting your children eat your own food, which you have already paid for when you bought the ingredients for the packed lunch!!

Crazy. I would put my foot down and refuse to pay. I would point out that I already paid at the supermarket checkout, and have no desire to do so again. I can't see that they have much leg to stand on tbh.

Original poster
cestlavielife · 04/09/2013 14:59

official letter. charge "for the use of the facilities"

missstrawberry - wow ! is it usual then in some schools ? (i guess private?)

OP posts:
belatedmaybe · 04/09/2013 15:00

I wonder if the high cost of lunches means a lot of pupils are packing up? I suppose this would be a way to mitigate that?

Still can't see it is right, also I thought school lunch cost was governed? Could be wrong on that though.

MissStrawberry · 04/09/2013 15:01

Yes, my children are currently at an independent school.

Gracie990 · 04/09/2013 15:04

NO!

Shocking.

Original poster
cestlavielife · 04/09/2013 15:09

thing is, it isnt an independent school with posh faciltiies, good sports hall etc. it doesnt have any of that.... it's a sudden, new charge on op of matriculation going up two fold in past four years... emailing the parents assoc...

OP posts:
fuzzpig · 04/09/2013 15:10

That's awful.

I was going to suggest perhaps going to the press... But now I am even more shocked that it happens in another school mentioned here. So it is not unheard of. WTF.

Our school dinners are something like £2.30 a day which is too much for us with 2 DCs. Their simple but fresh and healthy packed lunches are way less than that (tempted to actually work it out next time I shop!) - so paying a fee would double the cost

quoteunquote · 04/09/2013 15:13

Find a better school, one where they are interested in the children, and give a monkey's.

EmmelineGoulden · 04/09/2013 15:42

Check your contract. Supervision and facilities may already be promised in there for the full day, in which case they may have no basis to charge you. It's a private school so there probably isn't a legal embargo on charging. I know some independent schools insist all children have (and pay for) school lunches. But that doesn't mean they can ride roughshod over their contract with you.

Still, will probably only work for this term - they can presumably change the contract for next term.

friday16 · 04/09/2013 15:54

"it is State but isnt - it is a foreign language school in uk - so sponsored by the state of that country . students of that nationality pay a matriculation fee of 250£ per year. "

So it's nothing to do with the UK government, right? Your child is at a school which is, for practical purposes, private, as it's neither funded by the UK government nor subject to UK governance, yes? Presumably its freedom from UK government control was part of the appeal.

TwoTearsInABucket · 04/09/2013 16:02

[Shock] at op and missstrawberry

Paying to sit down? That's utterly stupid.

teenagetantrums · 04/09/2013 16:05

so take your kids out and send them to a state school.

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