Nursery- service charge to bring a packed lunch

[strongagain1985]

AIBU to be surprised that the nursery (attached to a primary school) my 4 year old dd attends, charges £1.75 for children to bring a packed lunch in? If the child has a school dinner then it's £2.75. What do you make of this?

Awful

on the make I think, squeezing extra ££

Shitty really

WTF??

You've misheard, surely?

I'm glad it's not just me then.

Well most nursery children I know of don't stay for lunch, so I think you are paying for the supervision/room/cleaning.

i would question the legality of this - are they saying child cannot eat on premsies unless pay for it?

She gets 15 hours free so she does two days, 9:00am-3:25pm. They charge the same for the kids in the primary school

Surely that is the supervision cost of him bring there over lunch time, ie: between sessions?

Surprising in some ways, but when you think that school meals cost less than a £1 for the actual food and the rest pays for the lunchtime staff maybe they aren't so far off the mark. Children taking a packed lunch still benefit from the staff in the playground (obviously, not the kitchen staff). I actually think £1 is fair. I'd hate to pay it, but I don't really see why other parents should have to pay more to cover my DCs lunchtime cover. The more children who take a packed lunch, the more subsidy that needs to be covered.

Sorry, her, not him.

I wondered regarding the legality, how would I go about trying to find out?

The sessions won't run over dinner therefore you are paying for the staff to look after more than anything.

Perfectly legal. They can charge for things above the normal free hours.

I thought dinner ladies were paid wages to do their job

We paid £1.50 for the lunchtime 1/2hr as 9-12 and 12-3.30 were the funded sessions.

All packed lunches as no kitchen

They are NOT allowed to do this under the early years funding agreement. They MUST give you the option of bringing in a lunch for no extra charge.
This is very clear in the legislation for all councils brought in. In september

Sorry 12.30-3.30 that should read

Can you not use the remainder of the free 15 hours to pay for it? As you only use 12.5?

It's not above the normal free hours, the 1/2 lunch time is included in the free hours. She only uses13 hours out of the 15 including lunch

Are you not paying for the 'care'.

I work in a setting where £2 is charged if the child brings a packed lunch to lunch club.

You can't use the full 15 hours over just 2 days, it has to be at least 3 (I think)

You are paying for the supervision for the dinner hour, vouchers do not cover this hour.

Pull them up on it. Get a copy of the funding agreement from your council

sirzy.
Yes you can. As long as the session is longer than 10 hours.

Unless you've been specifically informed that this surcharge is to cover lunchtime supervision, I think it's outrageous.

At my DCs nursery, those that do only funded hours have the option of either paying extra for a hot lunch or bringing in a packed lunch for no extra charge.

Or half hour in your case, plus I believe you can only use 12 hrs over 2 days, 15 hrs over a minimum of 3 days.