to think the new free school meals for all KS1 children is a ridiculous idea?

[Flexibilityiskey]

I just don't see the rational behind it, when benefits are being cut to the bone, why give free school meals to people who don't need them? Yes it may benefit the odd family but there will be loads who just don't need free meals, and at what cost? My DS's school will have to build a new kitchen as they currently don't have the facility to provide hot meals. There must be loads of schools with similar issues. Add to that the cost of feeding all the children in KS1 for each school year, the cost must run into millions. Surely the money could be better spent being targeted at those who genuinely need it or am I missing something?

The money our school will receive to pay for the meals is 50p per meal per day less than they cost to provide. So that's money that will no longer be available to spend on teaching and learning.

The only people for it all are probably those who's schools hae kitchens and source food locally so it's half way decent.

In for a shock when the schools loose the ability o choose suppliers themselves and have to go for ones which are government approved or are mass factory farmed producers or something.

The lovely organic roast dinners they currently tuck into will become reformed meat slices on a plate

Crazy I have a friend working for one the big companies and they sound awful.Penny pinching and currently trying to get rid of staff in underhand ways and then re employ them on crappier contracts.

And roast potatoes the deep fried kind.

Maybe it's postcode lottery, but they did a tasting at our school of them, and I was really impressed. All food baked on premises that morning. Cakes, lasagne, everything all from scratch.

I work in a school and think its the most ridiculous idea ever. The hall isn't big enough and the meals at the moment aren't of a very high standard. I certainly wouldn't want to eat them on a regular basis, so I can't see them getting any better when the kitchen is producing four times as many.
I often do a lunch duty and I would say 50% of the children don't eat any veg so its not really a healthy meal, mainly cheap meat, potatoes/rice and bread.

You got the sucker people in to sign up selection.

What you wAnt to taste is the mid term, parents don't see this part, selection.

There's one thing I don't get though. The current fsm criteria say you can't get it if you receive working tax credits- why? Either your income is low enough that your child needs fsm or it's high enough not to need them. It shouldn't matter what that income is made up of.

On a personal level, I'm glad for the universal fsm as it will help family who don't currently qualify due to receiving wtc, but could really do with the financial help.

But on a country wide scale, I'm concerned that children will be fed low quality meals, with not enough time to eat them. And the drop in meal income will also mean the school will struggle to pay enough lunch time supervisors and so levels of supervision may also drop (or the money will have to be found elsewhere, perhaps by employing TAs over lunch and reducing their in class time).

As a school we have 2 concerns
First, the refund from the government in no way covers the cost of the meals and the extra staff we need to serve them, so in effect the school will be subsidising the meals out of its budget. Which means less money to spend elsewhere.
Second, universal free meals means that families who ARE eligible for free school meals don't need to apply until their child is in KS2. But schools receive pupil premium funding based on the number of children who receive free school meals. So we will have 3 year groups with no children in who are receiving FSM, so no funding to match. Therefore not only will we be subsidising the cost of the meals, our income will drop because we are not receiving the pupil premium! We are having to ask parents to claim FSM, even though they don't actually need to as they will get the meal free anyway!

Why not offer some free uniform for those eligible for pupil premium as an incentive to sign up

What do you think will happen with that spaniel

How will your school cope with that loss of income?

Will you be able to continue using the supplier you have or will you be forced to choose a new one with cheaper and lower quality ingredients?

I think it's a good idea. It's based on sound research that showed it raised educational standards. I've always been a fan of free school meals.
It's great from a public health POV as it should help reduce the inequalities.
Any school that's banning packed lunches better have a good case. It should still be a matter of choice.
One of my children has some dietary issues and he has been catered for very well by the current school meals service.

The other option is to make all parents fill out the form but only the appropriate parts if they are eligible for fsm

Well im of the opinion that if my child legal has to be there for six hours per day (unless I opt out of formal education), then why shouldnt they provide everything that is required during those six hours?

After all, we are not expected to send classroom supplies or gym equipment.

I think it's a good idea. It's based on sound research that showed it raised educational standards

Of course decent meals improve things that's never been disputed.

The point people are trying to make and people seen to stupid to realise is that it's not going to he possible nationwide to do it to a high standard. There may well be lots of processed crap or just meat and other ingredients of very poor quality.

Many kids will in fact end up eating worse

yabu. It's about getting kids to eat different things imo but about nutrition. They aren't perfect but better than the same 'healthy' packed lunch every single day. What's the problem with 2 hot meals? That's a bonkers argument.

I guess the masks at dds school are ok. Not perfect but ok.

Because it's too much for some children. They don't all eat copius amounts of food that's why.

Dd1 wouldn't manage two main meals a day. Never has done.

but sandwiches are surely stodgy and involve more food not less? You either eat or you don't at a mealtime whether it's hot or cold is totally irrelevant.

I actually think when you sign up to gave a child you sign up to feed it.Only those that struggle to do this because of low income should be having the job of feeding their kids done for them.

Sorry as a tax paying family we only want to fund poor kids.Any extra cash lying around I'd like spent on my DC's education.The gov could start with spending the same amount on all kids as they do on London kids.There is a huge gap between what gets spent on kids in my area to those in London.

But why should we change our child's preferences when they have been perfectly happy like that for years. We eat our main meal hot or cold at tea. And she won't eat much if she's filled up on the crap at lunch time.

It's not the temp of the meal at school that's the problem. If there was the option of grilled chicken with garden salad and coleslaw she'd eat that and still manage tea.

When it's sausage casserole heaps of mash potato, unlimited bread and cake and custard , well forget it.

In theory its a great idea, I like the sound of free food (who wouldnt).I live in an area which is mainly made up of working poor and in all honestly I think everyone here is going to benefit hugely from this, most dont qualify for free school meals and the school currently has a big problem with parents in debt for school meals. We will save about £120 a month when this come in with 3 qualifying children, which is pretty much what we just lost in tax credits so it has all levelled out!

A very ill-thought out policy. Expanding FSM and the pupil premium money that goes with it would have actually targeted those that need it instead of subsidising people like myself who don't. Some schools provide fantastic meals others really don't and it's mass catered, over cooked mush. The waste that goes on is terrible, in some schools over half gets thrown away as the pupils don't eat it or don't have long enough to eat it. Nutrition is all very well but they have to actually eat it first.