To think we shouldn't have to pay for this school dinner?

[LittleMissGerardButlerfan]

My son has packed lunches, and one day this week he couldn't find his lunch box so they gave him a school dinner. He put it on the rack with the others but at lunchtime the one that was left to take wasn't his.

Then the next day I sent him in a lunch, and he found his full lunch box which he brought home.

We have had a letter from school saying we owe them £1.80 for the school dinner he had!!

We will pay it, but will send in a note saying we sent him with a lunch so weren't expecting to pay for one.

So Aibu to think we shouldn't have to pay for it?

[kali110]

I wouldnt expect the school to ring over this though.sick child-yes.missing lunchbox-no.
They used their common sense and made sure your son had some lunch.

[northlight]

SaucyJack, I can't count the number of times a child has told me that they have looked for something only for me to go out to the pegs / look out at the playground / visit the changing rooms and spot the missing item straight away.

[northlight]

OP your child did take a lunch to school and it did go missing. However, it is not unknown for a child to genuinely believe that they brought a lunch to school when they have actually forgotten it. Most teachers will have that scenario in the back of their mind in this situation.

At lunchtime the few staff on duty are fully occupied supervising the lunch hall.

[eddiemairswife]

We still don't know how old the child is, and at lunchtime it is the dinner ladies who are responsible, and they haven't got the time to go searching for missing lunches. This would make a good Enid Blyton story 'The Mystery of the Missing Lunchbox'.

[SaucyJack]

YANBU to be annoyed.

It pisses me right off when kids lose stuff at school and their teachers don't appear to have made them look for it.

He found it easy enough the next day.

[Scrounger]

Calling a parent because a child is ill is very different from calling over a lost lunch. I would be glad if a school used their common sense over this issue and fed my child a school dinner. Whilst the school does a lot of non teaching care / support etc for younger children there is only so much they can do, teachers are there to teach, that is what I want them to be doing - not hunting down lost items all the time.

Lunchtimes at primary schools are manic esp at the start of a new school year when reception children are just learning how to do the whole thing. They don't have time for this unless there are allergies as per a prior poster.

[arethereanyleftatall]

Afford

[arethereanyleftatall]

Fgs, think, if you can, of the consequences when you want something....scenario

1. Op doesn't pay
2. School cannot affit's this, en masse
3. Result - tough shit for a child who forgets/loses his.lunch.

Is that really what you want next time your dc loses his lunch? Really?
The daily mail would have a field day on that headline.

[NewNameforNewTerm]

"The school are in loco parentis they should make sure his lunch isn't lost."
Schools do do their best to make sure children don't lose anything, including lunches. But you do realise despite all the systems we put in place for storage of lunchboxes, drinks, snacks, PE kits, coats, hats, sweatshirts, sunhats, cycling helmets, bookbags, backpacks, pencil cases, etc. sometimes things do get lost because we cannot watch 30 children like a hawk every second they are in school to see whether they actually have it in school and where they put it.

[eatyouwithaspoon]

If you forgot your lunch at work or left it on the bus would you expect your staff canteen/local sandwich shop to feed you for free?
While it would be curtious to call about the cost I expect they are rushed off their feet. Imagine if they had not fed him it would have been worse. Having said that I do know £1.80 is a lot to some families I am sure the scghool would be happy to wat for payment and perhaps if you explain next time please call as you live close by.

[thistlelicker]

Could u imagine the "aibu, my son lost/couldn't find his lunch box and they didnt feed him. Aibu to be angry?" Hmmm I think not.... Everyone has overheads that need paying!

[BlackeyedSusan]

we did not have to pay when this happened to us.

[Rufus43]

At my school if a child can't find their lunch we would check the classrooms, if there was a spare lunchbox we would find out who it belongs to and then track the other box down (hopefully uneaten)

If we still couldn't find it then we would give them a school dinner.

There. Does tend to be a bit of veg or potatoes left but not usually the protein so something would be cooked from scratch

Doesn't happen often as we can usually find the lunch, and they can't just sneak into the cooked meal queue at our school

[Topseyt]

If the sum total of £1.80 is all you ever have to quibble about then you will be very lucky.

They gave him food to replace his lost lunch. Nothing in life is free, and schools do not have an endless bank balance.

[MissStrawberry]

Illness can be an emergency. A lost lunchbox isn't when there is the option of a cooked meal.

[jacks365]

Spb there are people who are struggling to that extent but the important thing is that the £1.80 doesn't need to be paid there and then and any school would wait for the end of the week/month if they were asked.

We don't know if the lunch box was taken or knocked off but the fact it was untouched suggests knocked off. If a child had taken it but not fancied anything they would have gone back for their own instead.

[vtechjazz]

Some people, Minnie, but not the op.

[SPBisResisting]

ah the slippery slope argument.
I think the school should have contacted a parent. You know, how they do when a child is ill. They manage then, as far as I know.

[HildaOgden]

If they gave him a free lunch on this occasion,then they would have to give free lunches to everyone that forgot/lost their lunch.

And once the word got out they do that,you can be sure there would be a lot of kids 'forgetting' their lunch.

The fed him,with the best of intentions,and it needs paying for.They were probably too busy dealing with/supervising however many kids to go phone you over a trivial thing like this.

[SPBisResisting]

I too would pay. But I was under the impression there were families who lived on the breadline and would struggle to come up with the money for a last minute lunch. Having sent their child in with a packed lunch that morning. So glad to see I am wrong.

[Tanith]

My 4 year old did exactly the same thing on her first day last week - couldn't find her packed lunch so calmly attached herself to the dinner queue instead. I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often, especially with some parents chopping and changing like they seem to.

I fully expected to pay - it's over £2 but she ate it.

[hobnobsaremyfavourite]

op if you live so close to school have him home for lunch problem solved.

[SPBisResisting]

judge from the way I read the op it seems someone else picked up his lunchbox from the rack where the boxes are all stored. What would you want him to do? (genuine question)

[judgejudithjudy]

so spb what should the school do?? not feed him or give freebies?? maybe not feeding him will teach him a lesson ah?!

[dufflefluffle]

Gosh, this is a case of too much too free! Where I live children do not get free lunches whatever happens (or even lunches for £1.80), if they forget their lunch the parents might be phoned to see if they could drop up a lunch to the school, failing that the other children share with the hungry pupil! They do not get free school books, medicines or medical care either. If my childrens school provided my child with a lunch and asked me for £1.80 for it I would be delighted to pay - and write a thank you note for being so kind to them.

YABU