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AIBU?

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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:
ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 04/09/2013 16:45

But only if you can afford the fees...

Tbh, in the situation you described I think charging is fair enough. It sounds like they will have pretty tight margins, and maybe they need more school dinners to help subsidise other stuff.

goodiegoodieyumyum · 04/09/2013 16:45

In the Netherlands primary school don't have canteens it is the norm still for many children to go home for lunch and if not to take lunch to school and pay for the children to be supervised.

TheFallenNinja · 04/09/2013 16:46

Utterly incredible. It must have been agreed by the governors?

TheFallenNinja · 04/09/2013 16:47

It sounds a bit Michael O'Leary Confused

soverylucky · 04/09/2013 16:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
cestlavielife · 04/09/2013 16:50

weareeternal - has it always been thus?

OP posts:
helenthemadex · 04/09/2013 16:52

my girls are not allowed to stay at school and have a pack lunch, its either stay in the canteen 3,50euros a day for a very good lunch or come home

5madthings · 04/09/2013 16:52

That's outrageous!

It would cost me £4 a day so £20 a week! Nope I would refuse to pay.

we are eternal a state school and people pay it happily, what about those that have more than one child?!! I would be kicking up a huge stink.

friday16 · 04/09/2013 16:53

"it is a state school of that country operating abroad. "

So take it up with the government of the country that operates it.

5madthings · 04/09/2013 16:54

Coming home is fine if you are close/can drive. Our school is half hour walk each way, lunch break is an hour we would have long enough to eat!

WeAreEternal · 04/09/2013 17:07

They have been charging for about 5 years I think, since the added the new kitchen and dining hall, they used to have most of the lunches made off site but now everything is prepared on site and they have more staff and better dining facilities.

Most people are happy to pay because the service is good. The children are well supervised and encouraged to eat not just the 'good' bits in their lunch boxes.

However, i do believe the number of children that have packed lunches is quite low as the school lunches are fantasic, there are always three different lunch options (a meat, a vegetarian and a cold option) and they are lovely.
Everything is made on site and is almost all made from scratch.
Its so good most children choose to have a school lunch.

Bonsoir · 04/09/2013 18:02

No! ?10 to eat a packed lunch and ?15 a day for a canteen meal. I think it's a world record!

SPBisResisting · 04/09/2013 18:06

to those asking about the legalities...I wouldn't be surprised if academies can and do start doing this.

toomuchtoask · 04/09/2013 18:07

Bloody hell. I would leave my teaching job if they did something so ridiculous in my school.

Oblomov · 04/09/2013 18:18

Totally Shocked Shock

Portofino · 04/09/2013 18:24

I pay similar - more I think - in my dd's Belgian school. I notice this year they have placed a similar charge on those using the school bus. Not to pay for the bus, but for the accompanying adult.

MrsDeVere · 04/09/2013 18:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ouryve · 04/09/2013 18:29

WTF? Is this primary or secondary? An academy? What would they do if parents, en masse, simply refused to pay for their children to eat their own food?

Portofino · 04/09/2013 18:30

No, now I HAVE thought, this month I paid 20 euros for after school club, 45 mins a day of which is supervised homework session. 5 euros to cover Wednesday afternoons when there is no school and 15 to cover lunchtimes. I am thinking that all day cover - school open 7.30 til 6pm - for 2 euros per day might be seen as an absolute bargain in the UK.

And no, my dd doesn't DO 7.30 til 6, before someone asks why I had a child in the first place...Wink

Betrayedbutsurvived · 04/09/2013 18:32

Seriously!!!! OMFG. And if you refuse pay presumably they make your children go hungry!

Portofino · 04/09/2013 18:35

Mrs D, dd is at school in one of the poorer parts of Brussels and a surprising number actually go home for lunch. I was quite shocked that I had to fill in a form proving that Dh and I both worked to let dd even have access to lunchtime care. That seems to have stopped though...no FSM here, though I guess.

Portofino · 04/09/2013 18:38

Please note that OP says this a school supported by another EU country and not a UK state school. These charges are totally normal on the continent. Plus you have to buy EVERYTHING they need for school. Books, pens, folders etc.

Hulababy · 04/09/2013 18:42

Betrayedbutsurvived - I suspect more likely the child can still eat but the debt will be recorded and added up, and after a certain time period the parents will be asked to either pay up or leave the school.

raisah · 04/09/2013 19:04

£20-£25 per month to sit at a table to eat your lunch! Tell the head that is an indirect form of tax & get a petition together, contact the council education dept & harrass the contractor. They must not be allowed to get away with this stealth tax, £20 will make a big difference to some families.

Portofino · 04/09/2013 19:10

It is NOT a tax. THis is NOT a UK state school. Ie not funded by UK taxpayers. That makes a huge difference.

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