To be pissed off with school ?!

[MyPandaisasecretmonster]

Ds5 went back to school today (Y1)

Everybody in the school has packed lunches as their are no cooking facilities .
When we got to school the Teacher informed us from tomorrow that we can no longer take our own pa led lunches in as school will supply them due to the new law that has come in .

They will be providing packed lunches for all under 7s which will be a choice of a Cheese or Ham sandwich , a piece of fruit and a drink of water

AIBU to think they could of sent a blooming letter out before everybody wasted their money on new packed lunch boxes etc , Oh and not forgetting the fridge full of packed lunch stuff that I bought yesterday for the next fortnight

The choices are ridiculous my Dn attends the same school & she is Muslim so can't eat the Ham & she won't eat cheese so what is she suppose to do ?
Also my Ds&Dn take pasta salad etc in as well yet now because it is law they have to have a sandwich

I'm actually fuming at this

Ham or cheese sandwiches every day for a 2 years!? I'd be well hacked off too and would be sending them with their own lunch. Both my DCs cannot stand sandwiches with butter in them so would not eat them. Also, a sandwich & fruit would not be enough for them (they usually have a sandwich + yoguhurt + chopped fruit/veg + savoury scone/slice of meatloaf/boiled egg)

I think it is an ill thought out plan. Fair enough offering free school meals, but there should be the opportunity to take a packed lunch if you do not wish to take up the offer of the free meal.

What about the people with allergies or dietary restrictions due to religious beliefs?

A school with no kitchen? Sounds odd.

You should be given the option to wether or not you take the school up on their packed lunch. At our school we have been given the choice, like your school the school mine are at will provide a cold packed lunch option for children who prefer packed lunch but it is very basic choice of cheese, ham and tuna sandwich a piece of fruit and carrot sticks. I dont feel that is a good selection wouldnt fill my ds who is used to having yogurt and some crackers aswell.

My 2 youngest are having the dinners but ds im going to continue with my own packed lunches, dd1 is too old for free meals so also on packed lunches.

By the way I have 2 who dont like cheese unless its melted

YANBU.

Your school is not handling this very well at all, and it's defiantly worth complaining about.

Delve into the regulations for these meals - we had a hoohah at ds's school because they were planning on only offering a veggie option to speed things up and make it work - thinking that way they couldn't be accused of excluding anybody on grounds of religion, vegetarianism, etc.

Except lots of people complained - the school's veggie food is notoriously unpalatable. Somebody found the right points in the regulations (or guidelines etc, can't remember their precise name) that said they had to offer a meat option too. Plus there was something in there about variety. So they have now had to up their game and provide a meat and veggie option.

I wonder if you were to challenge the school - either with the correct regs yourself or say that you don't believe they are correct and until they can show you the point that says that they can ban you from taking lunch in you will continue to send lunch in - particularly as they are not able to provide variety (again ask to see where it is acceptable to serve the same meal every day) and what are they proposing that those that can't eat ham or cheese should eat (eg would a turkey sandwich be ok?) plus it's supposed to provide more than just one portion of fruit I think so that's worth checking out too.

I do think it is rubbish the school didn't say anything at the end of last term to you - but keep on at them and if you're lucky you might quickly persuade them to change their minds! Are there any parents who are dieticians, nutritionalists, drs etc or who know these regs who could help complain that they are not providing a suitable meal? Also make sure parents complain en masse and say that they know others are complaining too so they can't fob you off saying that nobody else is bothered!

How can you prepare someone to eat cheese 5 days a week if they simply don't like it?

The whole thing is ridiculous.

crazylady my ds's school has no kitchen and lots of the schools around here don't, particular if they have been built in the last 25-30 years.

Meals come from a catering company that make them at an off site kitchen and deliver them to school in a hot box which is delivered to school and plugged in to keep the food at the right temperature until it is served.

Unfortunately at ds's school it gets delivered well before 10am and is left stewing the food until it is served at 12:00 or 12:30 [yuk]

It's a whole separate battle with the school - but it can't be good for the nutritional value or the taste of the food in any way. Unfortunately lots of children have to suffer this type of food due to the dire lack of kitchen facilities at so many schools.

Definitely complain - it's not compulsory and they shouldn't be saying otherwise, and that's a terrible lunch to be offering every day: tiny portion, uninspiring, too limited to cater for perfectly acceptable variations in likes/dislikes and not particularly nutritious.

Our school meals are on a 4 week cycle, 2 choices each day. There is a kitchen for reheating, but I don't think it's any harder without a kitchen and that is a crap excuse. There is no reason why pre-provided packed lunches can't be varied - salad, pasta and rice, a wide variety of sandwiches, veg and dips, yoghurt, fruit, flapjacks etc. M&S manage to provide a huge choice of cold lunches so it can't be beyond the wit of a reasonable catering company to do something similar. Their food provider sounds utterly appalling and I'd be lobbying the school to switch. The whole point was to provide a nutritious filling lunch to help kids concentrate in the afternoon. It sounds like most kids will be worse off!

Crazylady it's not that unusual, round here there's only one primary school with a kitchen (ours) out of 5 schools and they make school dinners for 3 of them. It's an older school building though, most of the new ones weren't built with room for a kitchen on site.

I count my blessings when stuff like this happens that we have a sensible HT and board of governors!

There has been a right row locally because one school did exactly the same as in the OP, banning anyone taking in packed lunches. They eventually had to back down after lots of sad-faced photos in the paper and threats of withdrawing children. One child had severe allergies and the school were quoted as saying that they couldnt guarantee non contamination but they child would still have eat their school lunch! As I say, they backed down eventually but it has left a very bad atmosphere at the school, the headmistress is not popular at all. There are several new starters in both DS and DD's classes from that school.

Actually OP thinking about it, would going home for lunch be an option? I am lucky in that we live 2 minutes from school and when the rumours started about it being compulsory to have lunch I decided that I would bring DD4 home for her lunch (she starts YR next September).

Ive never heard of a school with no kitchen, wasnt meaning to sound like was disbelieving :)

It's not usual for a primary school not to have a kitchen.

It's a rubbish lunch. That's hardly going to fill the children up and the same thing every. day.

I find it a bit weird too in all honesty but the schools I went to had huge kitchens (and bloody good food!).
DD's primary is the largest school in the area, the rest are tiny boxes.

Unless they are providing yoghurt, flatjack or some sort of desert, the children are going to be starving (and in non water drinking DD2's case dehydrated).

YRs leave the crusts of sandwiches and get bored wittless after three bites of an apple. They'll chuck away any banana or other fruit that looks faintly bruised or tired, they are going to be starving.

Adult healthy eating just doesn't work for DC below about Y5, they simply don't eat enough not to need food with some fat and sugar to get them to tea time!

I don't live close enough to bring him home for his dinner .

I have just spoke to the Head teacher & she said the sandwiches are only until they can find somebody to provide Hot school meals for them .

I'm still not sure how they will do this as they have no facilities to be able to serve dinner , so children would have to eat the hot meals at the desks , Oh & they don't have dinner ladies or anything similar so is it going to be the teachers that serve dinner and clean up ?

They do have a sort of kitchen though you couldn't swing a mouse in it , Its so the staff can make their own dinners.

School apple crumble and custard exists for a reason. Generations of teachers didn't want their pupils zoning out by 2.15.

Most parents prefer their DCs not to be demanding a snack at the school gate.

"Also my Ds&Dn take pasta salad etc in as well yet now because it is law they have to have a sandwich"

As others have said, it isn't the law that children have to have a sandwich or a free school meal. All KS1 children need to be offered a free school meal. It is up to you whether you take it or not.

Sandwiches are only until they can find somebody to provide Hot school meals for them

Surely they have had plenty of notice to do this.

Dino I was going by what the Teacher told me this morning .

Mamma You would think so as every other school seems to be well organised when it comes to feeding the pupils

I'm glad that mine are older and we won't have this, although the primary school dd attends has a kitchen so will carry on providing the usual choices but lower school won't have to pay.

DD would hate the options at your school she rarely has a sandwich as shes not keen on bread. if she does have a sandwich its usually pitta or a wrap. Lunches are mainly pasta salad, rice, couscous, with veggie sticks or slices of pitta with a tiny pot of hummus or sweet chilli dip. an apple or a piece of fruit and a few cubes of cheese. She's quite a picky eater, she will eat junk but prefers food that looks like its supposed to (that's her descrption) I wish I had her eating habits.

Could some of the parents not go in and help in the short term. Maybe think of better sandwiches or something else and use whatever money there is better rather than just ham and cheese sandwiches.

It is not compulsory though. Well at least not at my DC school. DS can't have the school dinners due to allergies (nut and egg - they can't be 100% sure they are nut free, and as most puddings are cake they certainly are not egg free) and I was surprised to see about 5 other children in his class with lunch boxes. His teacher said that 6 children have opted out in reception, and quite a few more in year 1 and 2.
It surprised me as school do pretty nice dinners,( if year 3 were included DD would be having them), but I understand there will be children who just don't like what is on offer.
But it is definitely not compulsory!

YANBU. I'd be less than delighted too.

'd be annoyed at the lack of choice... Ham or cheese every day, with no variety? Plus I doubt it'll benaice ham.

Love it! :)