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AIBU?

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

119 replies

LittleMissGerardButlerfan · 13/09/2013 15:30

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?

OP posts:

Report

judgejudithjudy · 13/09/2013 16:57

you should thank the school for ensuring your dc had lunch not moan about it so yabvu

but if you want the staff to have a laugh at your petty expense then send the note :-)

rockybalboa · 13/09/2013 16:58

YABU. The school fed him so he didn't go hungry. Why on earth do you think you should not have to pay for it?!

Teeb · 13/09/2013 17:00

SPB the op says her sons lunchbox was there the following day untouched, so it doesn't look like anyone took it.

justmyview · 13/09/2013 17:03

First world problem

insanityscratching · 13/09/2013 17:03

The same thing happened to dd only the HT phoned me because dd has allergies. He then accompanied dd to the dining hall and ensured that she had food she could eat. Of course I offered to and did pay because the school fed her even though the school said it wasn't necessary. YABVU to expect to not have to pay for food given to your child IMO.

SPBisResisting · 13/09/2013 17:04

But Teeb, when he got there there was one box on the rack that wasn't his...
Actually my sympathy does depend a little on how old the child is. If he's 4, I sympathise. If he's ten, less so :o

SPBisResisting · 13/09/2013 17:06

What if the OP literally cannot afford a school dnner? We get threads on here all the time - down to my last tenner until the end of the month...

CatAmongThePigeons · 13/09/2013 17:06

I'm wondering if the lunchtime assistants checked to make sure that OPs DC wasn't mistakenly with someone else

Smoolett · 13/09/2013 17:09

Dear me, yabu. It wouldn't have even crossed my mind to question whether I should pay. Where would you draw the line, you could have parents evey day saying their child hd lost their lunch to get a free school lunch.

mrgarybarlow · 13/09/2013 17:09

My school wouldn't have charged you for this if it happened to a pupil at my primary school. Someone else took the wrong lunch box so I would have made sure he had a school meal.

I'm going against the grain and saying don't think ybu at all!!

Tabby1963 · 13/09/2013 17:12

I am involved with collecting money and ordering dinners at a school. Every dinner has to be paid for and the books have to balance at the end of each week. The kitchen caters for the numbers we give them for each of the three daily meal options, with a couple of extra meals for any latecomers who have forgotten to order in advance.

We do occasionally have children who have forgotten their packed lunches or, rarely, can't find them. Staff will take time to look for the lunchboxes because we would rather the child had their planned lunch than have one from school. However, if a child does have a school lunch, it does have to be paid for.

The lunches at my school are actually really tasty and the price, £1.80, is a very good deal in my opinion.

ApocalypseThen · 13/09/2013 17:14

I'm amazed that some think lost lunch location is a teacher's job.

MissStrawberry · 13/09/2013 17:15

I don't think the OP will come back.

No one took the child's lunch. It got knocked off/hidden.

Another child went without their lunch or came along after as their box was still there.

You should pay, of course, and be happy your child was looked after.

SPBisResisting · 13/09/2013 17:15

even if the child is 4?
My son hurt himself at school. His teacher cleaned it and applied a plaster.

SPBisResisting · 13/09/2013 17:16

MissS, why do you think your scenario is more likely than a child taking the wrong lunchbox then returning it at the end of lunch uneaten because it wasn't theirs?

SPBisResisting · 13/09/2013 17:16

No one has responded to my question - what if the OP actually cannot afford school lunches?

LittleMissGerardButlerfan · 13/09/2013 17:18

I am back, I said I was going to pay and I will. I just think the school could have rung as I would happily have taken him another lunch along.

I won't send a note, I just think as a one off it would have been nice if they just gave it too him.

I have worked in school kitchens and there has always been spare that is thrown away/given to the staff.

OP posts:

soverylucky · 13/09/2013 17:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

intitgrand · 13/09/2013 17:20

The school have a duty to provide a system whereby a child can safely store his belongings, and them still be there when he comes back!

FlapJackFlossie · 13/09/2013 17:22

Sorry, OP - you sound entitled and ungrateful.

And initgrand - you'll learn !

FlapJackFlossie · 13/09/2013 17:23

No one has responded to my question - what if the OP actually cannot afford school lunches?

If she's THAT hard up, I'll send it to her (and I'm a pensioner).

Fairyliz · 13/09/2013 17:23

Was it chip day? It's .surprising how many lunches 'disappear' on Fridays to magically reappear at the end of the day when the child has had a school lunch with chips

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Sirzy · 13/09/2013 17:26

by the time they had phoned you, and you had had time to make a new packed lunch and take it in then unless you live next door to the school a pretty big chunk of lunchtime would have been taken up.

Makes much more sense for the school to deal with it there and then.

saulaboutme · 13/09/2013 17:29

Yabu, they fed him. If they'd not fed him it would have been terrible.

SPBisResisting · 13/09/2013 17:34

"FlapJackFlossie Fri 13-Sep-13 17:23:17

No one has responded to my question - what if the OP actually cannot afford school lunches?"

While that sounds lovely, there are plenty of parents who would struggle to pay for school dinners. They don't qualify for FSM, and presumably send in packed lunches.

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