To think that you just can’t leave kids without a meal?

[FrizzyMcFrizzface]

We have just been informed that the school dinner provider will no longer provide a lunch (primary school) if the account is not in credit. The school will contact the parents to bring in a pack lunch if that is the case.

I understand the provider is fed up of being in debt but surely you can’t leave a child without dinner for the day? If the parents can’t be contacted for whatever reason or are too far away at work/no relatives nearby etc.

There are always those days for all of us where with the best will in the world you forget or there is some sort of emergency/crisis. AIBU to think this is wrong and in those emergency/rare situations a meal should be provided?

School meals are expensive, so send them in with a sandwich.

In Ireland the child brings in their own lunches. So every morning I make 4 different packed lunches for four very different children. By you saying you may forget to pay for your child’s lunch it’s like me saying I forgot to make my child’s lunch! Imagine if I did that 2 or 3 Times, do you think the school might get worried and contact either me or someone. Be thankful there is a service in place and pay for your child’s meal because believe me most mornings I wish there was a meal service in my dcs school.

All children should be feed and not be humiliated by people they look up to for teaching them (when my girls first went to school they told I was singing the song the wrong way because there teacher does a rolling hand and I rolled my head 🙈) our children learn so much from there teachers. They should not be teaching them it is ok if they or another child misses lunch. I want a brighter future for my children where people care if a child goes hungry.

I agree with you but never got the message that anyone except me cared.

Ds had sandwich taken from him and thrown away bc it was mistakenly put on tray. Also refused meal after his fellow off tray evendors though he had money in account.

Good luck. And pack some extra snacks in backpack just in case. Since outsourcing meals, kindly lunch ladies are sweet memories.

Ks1 free school meals are only in England I think

I think the child should be given a school meal and a letter to take home telling the parent to provide a packed lunch for the following day onwards until the account is brought up to date. The meal the child was given added onto the amount outstanding to be paid for by the parent. The situation shouldn't affect, embarrass or even cause anxiety for the child, it's not their fault or within their control. I don't think any child should be singled out to go without a meal.

Kids in Scotland in p1-3 (age 4/5-8) are all entitled to FSM regardless of financial circumstances.
As for not giving a child a meal. In dcs' school if a child has no packed lunch/dinner money/dinner ticket (we live rurally so no app or online system, just buy tickets or give them money) they will be given a hot meal, and a slip to take home that day requesting payment by the end of the week. I've never had to fall back on this, but I'm glad the option is there.

brasty which is lovely if the school allows you to send them in with a sandwich.

There are currently a significant number of children entitled to FSM around the country not recieving them due to administrative fuck ups amd a lack of training and not changing forms.

The parents of these kids are not in a position to pay instead because they have no money none at all a large amount of those have homes at risk.
They have done nothing wrong.

It’s called universal credit and gov bad planning.

It would not surprise me if that’s why these letters are becoming popular and it being jack shit to do with piss takers.

One of our local primary’s has actually linked the two things because it’s every single family in their school on UC

The parents need advance warning if their account is in arrears.
If it's a one off and the parent has simply forgotten to send the money in then they should be contacted and asked to bring the money in when collecting the child.
I don't agree with a child going without a midday meal at all.
The child is not responsible for their parents remembering their dinner money so why should the child suffer by feeling hungry and humilated?
I'm just thinking how the child would feel being told he/ she can't have an dinner!
Aside from that it's not acceptable for a child to go through a whole school day with nothing to eat.
Adults can easily do this yes but not a child.
As long as the parent is contacted and it's made clear that they need to pay straight away I don't see an issue.
If it happened regularly then an official letter saying they need to bring a packed lunch.

I just can't get upset at a child missing one meal. Sure, not ideal but not harmful either. If it happened over and over I'd say there are bigger issues at play.
One meal, non issue

I used to deal with exactly this issue. A written warning, a demand for payment and a conversation with the headteacher would happen. If then the parent sent the child to school without a settled account or a packed lunch the head would contact them to request they provide lunch by midday or else the schools welfare officer would be contacted. As basically the parent is refusing to provide a meal and relies on someone else's charity for their child to be fed.

It worked every single time.

Most parents never let it get to that stage, only the piss takers that are actually not entitled to FSM. I feel sorry for school staff being put in this position, they should be able to focus on teaching!

I think this is a standard response from schools, our primary school is exactly the same, whilst I agree it seems quite heavy handed the catering company are a business and I expect that there have been many instances where parents haven’t paid for a dinner or provided a packed lunch.
If they let one person off they have to let others off which will quickly spiral out of control, it’s the parents responsibility to pay for a lunch or provide one, no one else’s!

I can't believe some of the replies on here. I work with families. We would be contacted by school if there was an issue like this to contact the parents.
Firstly I have never worked with a school who would not feed a child. No one knows at that stage if that is the only meal that child has eaten.
Many people also seem to be coming from the point that the parents will just turn up with either the cash or a packed lunch. Ask any inner city school how many families they have where this won't happen.
Children should never be made to suffer or go hungry. They have no control over wether there parents pay for meals.

The policy at our school (and stated on the website) is to feed the child without fuss the first time, phone/write the second time but the third (and each subsequent time) the child gets bread and butter, fruit and a drink. In reality our kitchen staff, headteacher or other staff end up feeling sorry for the child and pay for a meal themselves - our Head is very good at sounding stern about it but when it comes down to it she falls for the child every time

If it happens regularly the parent gets a letter, copied to Fin Manager and Ch Gov stating that a referral to Child Services is being made. This tends to make the parent mad but it comes from a good place - we have had parents given help with budgeting, claims etc as a result.

The parents that frustrate me are the ones that get angry when we tell them their child had a meal that they now need to pay for. Especially if they are a packed lunch child. The number of times I’ve heard “it’s her own fault for forgetting/not reminding me, I’m not paying, she should have gone without”. Again, it’s the lovely Head that tends to balance the books in those cases.

We have also had the same change this week, maybe the same outside caterer? My DD primary school uses them as their kitchen isn't big enough.

I think it's fair that you pay for what you need and the letter makes clear that you will receive a text/email when the balance drops below £5, so should be no nasty shocks for anyone.

The school news letter confirms that it's because school can no longer afford to pay the debts for those that don't/won't pay. There is also always the option of a packed lunch...

Children should never be made to suffer or go hungry. They have no control over wether there parents pay for meals

Funding cuts have already resulted in making it impossible to run schools properly. No money for supply teachers when someone's sick. No money to sub trips they just get cancelled if not enough people pay. No money for resources. And no money for many extras that the staff would love to provide that would make improve things for children with problems.

And now people are expecting teachers/schools to pay the bills of parents who don't pay for their lunches. At what point do we say. No parents it's up to you.

These situations don't arise with the odd one off. There's always some kid who's off sick who's meal could be given away. There's hundreds of kids in school sure between them all a few bits could be "borrowed" to cover another child.

If the company is in debt and the school are sending out letters it's gone beyond someone forgetting or someone needing an extra few days to get the money together.

And if the company pull out from providing the school then what happens then.

Giles there are people who;ve had no Universal Credit for weeks and weeks. How do they pay?

KS1 free meals are only in England, not UK wide.

Our school says that if parents are routinely failing to feed their child (by failing to provide either a packed lunch or dinner money) they will refer to social services. That is a better option than denying a child a meal, which is failing in their duty of care.

I think the school just needs to have some cracker and marmite to hand for those situations.

They will be eligible for free school meals Mrs

Mrs, if the children are KS1 they get it paid for anyway. But if a parent can’t afford a school meal then they should try to make a packed lunch. They don’t need to be expensive to be filling.

The school has no money though either.

Nor does the company thats all ready in debt.

Surely the best thing to do in that kind of situation is to speak to the school tell them what's going on and perhaps cone up witg something.

Our school sends out letters requesting donations of things like tissues etc

Maybe if a large number of families were stuck with this UC thing then they could do what schools usually do when they jeed to raise money for stuff. The usual mufti days perhaps instead of a pound people could donate lunch items crisps, snack bars, maybe even cans of soup etc

Such a huge discussion over very little.

The first paragraph on the OP says the school will inform the parents of the arrears and tell them to pay or send pack lunches next time.

Even the OP doesn't seem to have read what she's written there.

Surely if the parent doesn't pay or sends food then it's time for a referral to social services.