school dinners

[mummaj2010]

does anyone elses kids come home starving because all they have eaten at school is a roll or sandwich?i opt for her to have a school meal but apparently they have sandwiches wraps and rolls as an option,surely if you wanted them to have a sandwich you would send a packed lunch?

[chunkymum1]

TeenandaTween- Yes, you'd think that would be possible but in my DCs school I'm not sure they'd do it. My DC are vegetarian and although this has been pointed out to school the staff serving dinners don't seem to be aware of this (DC have complained that dinner ladies try to give him meat if the hot veggie option has run out and although there was one member of staff for a while who would hold back veggie food for them this stopped when she left). I have mentioned it to school but they don't seem to see it as a big deal, noting that there has not actually been an incident of them failing to get a suitable meal and that they can take packed lunches if they like. At our school the forms filled in by parents only ask about medical requirements for a special diet (so nothing relating to cultural or religious requirements) which must be backed by a letter from a doctor etc. The idea that some children's parents have preferences over what they eat even if it won't necessarily make them instantly ill is not taken into account. As you may have noticed, I have a slight bee in my bonnet about this- sorry. I do keep on at school about this but as far we're in a rural location that's far from multi-cultural I think I'm seen as a bit of an oddity.

[MrsHathaway]

I had a school dinner today, as it happens (school invites you to have lunch with your child occasionally).

It was what I'd consider a big child's portion - certainly enough for my hungry 7yo but probably a reasonably modest lunch for an 11yo. They do have access to the salad bar (DS put cold cucumber on his roast dinner) and bread and butter, and the puddings are reasonably substantial.

Most of the Reception children didn't finish although there wasn't a time limit.

I've always expected to give mine a "proper" dinner after school, but then mine have been known to have a proper dinner at home after a proper dinner on a play date so I get that they are unusually hungry!

[RatOnnaStick]

I learned after the first week that I would be cooking a full meal every day and not just beans on toast. Ds is always starving despite eating everything at school including a stodgy pudding more than half the time.

[MrsHathaway]

Forgot to say the children choose (touch screen) first thing so the kitchen know to make 50 stuffed peppers and 100 beef pasties. According to DS(7) there's usually enough for the last sitting to have some seconds although it might be slightly random by the time they're having seconds. He's never experienced having his choice run out.

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

I work in my dds primary school covering lunchtimes and I can categorically state that the reason half the kids go home hungry is because they don't eat their lunch. Our school lunches are really good. The cook is very good and always makes sure every child has a proper portion of everything. The fussy little sods complain that they don't like it or don't like veg or whatever colour it happens to be that day and obviously we don't force them to eat and so most of it ends up in the bin. They manage to eat their pudding though.

[wornoutboots]

obviously we don't force them to eat

I wish the dinner lady who (according to an older child's account) stood over my 5 year old who just wasn't that hungry "making" him eat his hot dinner today felt like that rather than making my little boy cry.

If he's hungry in the afternoon having not eaten his dinner that's his look-out. but she's going to give him food issues if she does that kind of stuff.

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

That's exactly what we think; me and the other lady that helps out. You can't force them to eat but unfortunately they can be very fussy at that age and very pandered to at home. It's a really fine line between making sure they've had something to eat and forcing them to eat it. We usually tell them to have another three mouthfuls, for example, and then they can go and get their pudding.

[NotCitrus]

The choice can be overwhelming for some small kids. My ds has food anxiety but coped quite well through reception, eating bread each day and usually some potato and/or sausauge or fish fingers or pasta.

Then in Y1 they got a new award-winning caterer whose food I've eaten - very nice but full of hidden veg (ie scary lumps), and 4 options plus salad bar plus bread and yoghurt each day, with huge range of cuisines (3 week menu, wildly different tastes almost every day) so every day was overwhelming. Ds couldn't handle it and 1/2 a slice of bread wasn't enough, so after huge meltdowns and request from all relevant staff, now he has packed lunch. At least next year I won't feel I'm wasting money on it.

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

We have a menu sent home twice a year with a main option and a veg option. There's always bread, salad, pudding or fruit offered as well. It rotates on a three week basis. You select your choices and send it back to school. We keep a copy in the kitchen so the dds know what's on offer every day and can choose in the morning whether they want school or packed lunch. Saves a lot of hassle.

[kipperydippery]

I work in a primary school kitchen (not UK). I can assure parents that where I am portion size is not a problem. We are very good at making sure Y6s have more that YR.

We make most of the food from scratch, the kids love it, not many have packed lunches.

The toughest part of our day is the children, normally YR or Y1, that refuse to eat anything. In most cases the parents have signed them up to school dinners so they try more things.

We have to serve & give them time to eat, 200+ kids in just under an hour. I do not have 10 minutes to devote to getting a child to have a slice of cucumber on their tray, that they probably won't eat.

Interestingly, in my experience food intolerances & exclusion diets seem to not apply once a child is Y4 or older. I'm not sure why, I'm no Dr. I guess children must grow out of it.

Coeliac & proper allergies are of course different, & part of our kitchen is sectioned off to deal with this.

[kipperydippery]

I should add that all children who are on a special diet we make sure they have the correct food, with no allergens etc but it is interesting how many children seem to grow out of it as they get older.

It is great for the kids, they love being able to eat what everyone else is :)

[Lpel]

School dinners or packed lunch, kids just want to get out to play asap so most kids eat just enough to stop themselves starving. Everybody I know does a snack straight from school then a cooked meal later. Even if they ate a load at lunchtime they still need a proper meal in the evening. They're growing children!