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

[Overreactionoftheweek]

Get on to your local paper/radio station...they LOVE stories like this! It is utter shit and a ridiculous policy that hasn't been at all thought through

[MyPandaisasecretmonster]

They are using a local sandwich shop to do the Pack lunches .

I can't see any parents that will have time to go in & help they either have younger Dc or work .

In my case I have horrid constant 'morning' sickness

[NoodleOodle]

There are schools with no kitchen, I went to one for a year, and my DD went to one for five years. During the times she was on fsm there the selection was as poor as you describe your school is proposing. It is woefully inadequate. The same crappy sandwiches every day for two years? Disgusting. Is that what the people who have implemented this will be eating? I doubt it. We feed our prisoners better. I would be fuming too.

Send in your own lunches until they are providing meals you're happy with. Or take DC out or change school.

[lorriehearts]

OP: could you chat to some of the other parents and maybe start a petition? Free lunches for those who want them - fine. Compulsory free lunches, with limited choice? Not OK.

As for "preparing" a child to eat cheese every day for lunch, that's just ridiculous - especially when they don't like it. Neither ham nor cheese are particularly healthy, especially when you have them daily: I'm vegetarian and ended up with horrific, almost daily migraines because I was over-fed cheese as a child - it was years before I could eat anything more than a tiny bit of cheese again.

[MammaTJ]

As for a school not having a kitchen, there are two first schools in this town. One is large, at least two classes per year and has a kitchen, the other is a lot smaller.

The cook in the larger school cooks meals for the smaller school and they get taken there just before lunch! Perfect.

My DC are too old to benefit from the free meals though.

[MarchEliza]

How ridiculous - you won't be the only one to complain about this and I don't think you are over-reacting, unless there has been a misunderstanding.

[fuzzpig]

Ugh sounds rather dull. And no veg hardly an advert for healthy eating is it.

I also thought "but it won't be naice ham" :o

[WipsGlitter]

It has been all over the news including the problems some schools without kitchens were facing. I'm sure you will be able to use up the food and keep the lunchbox etc until he takes packed lunches again.

I do agree the school should have written to parents though, and the actual lunch is a bit crap.

[LoxleyBarrett]

"Your nieces mum could have prepared her to eat cheese over the summer - it's not a niche food"

Ha ha ha...

Why should she be prepped to eat a food she doesn't like when she can take in something she does like?

[grocklebox]

Just say no thanks and keep sending in the lunchbox. I very much doubt you'll be the only one and what are they going to do about it?

[edamsavestheday]

Outrageous that they are mis-using the new policy to ban home-made packed lunches. That is NOT the purpose -merely, the government is instructing schools to provide free school meals for infants. Complain!

[AnnieLobeseder]

The new law is that schools have to offer a free school meal to parents who want them, not that every child has to eat what they offer.

What a ridiculous interpretation on the part of your school. I would print out the new guidelines and explain to the school very calmly and clearly why I would be continuing to provide my own packed lunch to my child.

[DogCalledRudis]

Does a school have a right to do this? What about children who are allergic/religious/vegetarian???

[cakecake]

Raging? Really?? I think it is great that schools offer this as i have seen the junk that goes into packed lunches at times. I'm sure if you nicely explained you would rather give your child a packed lunch from home.

I honestly think that sometimes schools cannot do anything right. Just go for a picnic at the weekend and use up the packed lunch stuff.

[Ledkr]

We were discussing this yesterday.
The school dd will go to next year is doing only packed lunches and if it's just like you describe I'm definitely sending my own.

[DogCalledRudis]

Its good that they offer, but force-feeding sandwiches?????

[MyPandaisasecretmonster]

Cake I never once used the term 'raging'

Yes it would be nice if they had bothered to tell us about it & the choices weren't so pathetic

[indigo18]

I would be beyond disgusted at this; you can bet your life the bread will be longlife white stuff, with cheap ham and cheese of no discernable nutritional value. I know; tons of this food is served daily at the (secondary) shool I work in. Plus, which of us would like the same crap sandwich 5 days a week?
the fruit will be a small apple or banana, not a lovingly prepared pot of fresh pineapple, grape etc etc. No variety. Refuse!

[indigo18]

PS Surprised there's no CAKE> Schools specialise in cake ....

[Summerisle1]

I have a particular dislike of people/organisations quoting non-existent law as a means of justifying their (in this case inadequately notified) policies.

There's no legal reason at all why your child can't continue to eat a packed lunch prepared at home. As a pp has said, I'd be printing out the new guidelines and quoting them to explain, calmly and politely, why you will continue to provide your child with a packed lunch.

[ThatBloodyWoman]

I wish mine had been offered free school lunches.

[cakecake]

mypanda - sorry, fuming? Life is too short to get so worked up about things like this. I imagine they were unorganised about the whole thing (yes, their fault) but it is difficult to implement things like this at first so are bound to have teething problems. I'm sure they would appreciate constructive feedback (lack of choice etc) but there is nothing worse when you're working with children and trying to do your best with something and parents complain about every tiny detail.

[MyPandaisasecretmonster]

Cake So would you be happy with your Dc eating Cheese/Ham sandwich & a piece of fruit for their dinner every day ?

I'm allowed to complain when it will affect my Ds

[AnnieLobeseder]

cakecake - but the school is making like harder for themselves by insisting that all children eat this new packed lunch instead of only those who choose free meals. And what they are offering is not adequate. Would you be happy being told you had to eat a low-quality cheese sandwich and one piece of fruit every lunch time for the foreseeable future? No? Then why would you just accept that for your child without questioning it, when you already had perfectly good arrangements in place to provide a lunch that suited you and your child?