To think school lunches are expensive

[SEsofty]

So eldest child has gone into year three so I therefore need to pay for school lunch as previously free.

I have a relatively generous food budget of about £100 per week for five all meals, and to include nappies for youngest and the occasional bottle of wine.

So just under three pounds per person per day.

School lunch is £2.50 per day. Therefore most of the budget gone and the small portion size means that child still needs a full meal in the evening.

I am thinking of doing packed lunch instead but everyone else seems to have school lunches.

I am just wondering how everyone else affords it and whether I’m out of kilter

Not so much expensive as poor value for money.

The quantity of food certainly isn't enough to fill my permanently ravenous 10 year old. If he was getting a good quality lunch every day I'd be prepared to pay more, but the £2.40 or whatever it costs here isn't good value.

Here in France, school meals are pretty much compulsory unless you collect your child and take them home for lunch OR they have a severe allergy (you need medical proof), and can bring food in. Packed lunches are not a thing here at all. In my experience school meals can be expensive but are generally good quality. I have paid up to 7€ per day. Lowest was 3,50€ per day. Currently pay around 300€ per child per term (4x a week as no school on Weds).

Chips are rarely on the menu. Occasionally as a treat. Also, you get lots of little courses so a starter, then main, then cheese with bread and finally a dessert.

Ours are about £2.50. I don't mind paying that (although it does irk on days when DD2 has chosen the sarnie/jacket potato option) as although the portions are small, they do let them have seconds quite often.

I found making sandwiches and trying to find interesting wraps, salads etc.more expensive and increasingly a faff.
At least school dinners always got eaten.

And if you think that's expensive, wait until they get to secondary school! Almost £4 at DD1's, payable termly!

We pay 5 euros - and you can't send them with packed lunches.

And I am not sure why you would be relying on lunch to be your child's main meal

Many many families have no choice but to do this. Have you not heard of school holiday food poverty where the lack of a free school meal means many kids going hungry?

FFS........

Surprised that "everyone has them". At DC's junior school, the only people who had school meals every day were

• those on FSM

And

• those with 2 full time working parents who either didn't have time to make packed lunches and/or wanted them to have a hot meal in the middle of the day

Most DC had school meals only once a week as a "treat".

Secondary school meals are way more expensive than primary! I think primary are actually very good value.

School lunches used to be enough to be the main meal of the day. It was recognised for those on FSM it would be their main meal. I remember when this changed as there was an outcry from many charities that support families. Was under a Conservative Government by the way.

PyongyangKipperbang

That was badly put. What I mean is, relying on it doesn't actually mean it will look like the main meal, so, big portion sizes etc. It is designed as a lunch.

Ours is £2.50 but the portion size isn't limited (they can ask for a big or small portion and could get more if they were still hungry although I think few are). Both DC do still need a proper dinner though. I do agree it's expensive if you're on a food budget.

Literally everyone has school dinners at DC's school I've never known of anyone bring a packed lunch.

yes, ours are £2.60 and no universal FSM. No choice although there used to be, dd1 only takes them once or twice a week when it's something she likes, as she's a fussy eater anyway. Surely school dinners used to be considered a proper sized main meal, so that if you were on FSM you were getting a good sized main meal provided. In my young day (admittedly about 30 years ago)they were about 60p a day and huge portions and you could have seconds. I thought them horrible and pleaded to take packed lunches.

“I think it's very expensive. £2.50 is reasonable for a two course meal? For 1? But you could buy a pack of bacon, a pack of pasta, chopped tomatoes and a cake in Lidl for that. Feed 4 people two courses.
It's cheap compared to eating out yes, but not at all cheap compared to home cooking”

But you aren’t paying for someone else’s wages at home whycantyouusethephone
Oh, I know. The OP could pick her child up from school at lunchtime and cook a meal for him/her before returning the child to school.

I know I will get flamed for this, but parents of larger families surely factor in the cost of sending kids to school - uniforms, school meals/packed lunches/school trips/other sundry expenses when they decide to have the number of childre they do. Don't they?

DS has school meals. He knows he isn't allowed to choose the sandwich option as it has to be his main meal. They get a hot meal plus fresh bread and a pudding. He also has a snack midmorning and a snack when he gets home before tea. As I have a child getting FSM in Year R its easier than cooking 4 different variations of an evening meal. I dont think its bad value, its less than you would pay for most sandwiches from a supermarket.

Yep packed lunches much better and cheaper.
Worth putting a bit if effort into them too.

I've consider the cooked school dinner an important dinner. If I know DD has had shepherd's pie/spag bol/whatever, i feel less guilty about rustling up beans on toast or if she only wanrs bowls of cereal on the evening.

Any parent relying on them as their child's main meal of the day should be very wary. Our school meals are pretty good and cooked on site but the vast majority of children eat very little of them. There's a massive amount of waste. Many of the children are fussy or say they don't like the meals but say that their parents won't give them a packed lunch as they say they haven't got time to make them. There's also the regular excuse of "my child is fussy at home so I want them to eat a school meal in the hope that they'll try different foods". It doesn't work. I do my best to encourage children to eat but cannot force feed them. It's sad.

Yep thought about it, ex left me so now I’m a single parent with 4 kids, not my choice we could afford it together, it’s hard going alone but good that you’re so worried about my family

My youngest 3 go packed lunch, ds3 went some lunches whilst it was free but now happy to have packed lunch but he’s fussy, ds4 has never had a school lunch as he likes his packed lunch, my older 2 would prefer money so they do half packed lunch and half school dinner but moan all the time about it, drives me nuts with all my other outgoings I feel l need a money tree at times. Certainly school dinners aren’t cheap £2.15 here older boys get those x2 a week.
Portions are fine and my ds13 loved his lunches in primary school.

I know I will get flamed for this, but parents of larger families surely factor in the cost of sending kids to school - uniforms, school meals/packed lunches/school trips/other sundry expenses when they decide to have the number of childre they do. Don't they?
Which might well include NOT paying £2.00 per meal of a school dinner becuase preparing à packed lunch is cheaper.

Fwiw my own dcs have always had a packed lunch. Which was warm (use a thermos for that), balanced and a full meal.
If you are on a tight budget, you might well chose not to pay the people in the kitchen. There is nothing wrong with that Nor does it mean you haven’t factored that sort of cost before having a child.

Fun the other side is also that they often have very little time to eat which doesn’t help.
And other children making comments along the lines of ‘how can you eat that, that’s disgusting’ because the child is happily eating sprouts or whatever other vegetable doesn’t help either.

My daughters just gone into year 3 but she’s been dying to have pack lunches all last year so she has a pack lunch mon-Thursday as she’s really fussy and will only like half of the stuff served that day so it’s not worth the £2.50 when she will only eat the sausages, bread and pick at the pudding.
It only cost a few £ extra on the shopping to pick up stuff for pack lunches instead of the £10 it would for lunches.
She has a school dinner on Friday as it’s fish finger day with chips/beans/peas and normally ice cream for pudding so she eats it all and enjoys it.

I’ve got three in school who don’t get FSM, so they all get a packed lunch.. my middle is veggie and they kept ignoring it and saying there was no veggie option left so I put him on packed lunches even when he got FSM.. my youngest will get FSM next year but I’m guna let her decide what to do. My eldest will be going to high so probs just top up his card instead of packed lunches anymore!

It's £2.10 a day where we are which I didn't think was too bad. DS is in reception so I don't pay at the moment but I would like to carry on when he is older.

He has always eaten loads so still needs a full meal at night but that was the same when he was at preschool and had to have a packed lunch.

I like that he gets something warm in the daytime, especially on cold days.

When he was on packed lunches at preschool I always found it hard to get enough variety in. The menu at school is good and varied.

It's £4-£5 for a sandwich, piece of fruit and a drink here.

80p to £1 for a piece of fruit, £1.30+ for a small drink, and £2-£3.50 ish for a sandwich.

The quality is crap and portions are tiny. Think the hot meal costs about £4, although you can get a small bowl of soup for £2.

My DC were always starving after school lunches, so switched to packed and never looked back. They like packed cos it is quicker to eat so means they can get out to play for longer. My packed lunches are healthier and cheaper than school lunches, so it's a no-brainer for us.

Even with a nice sized packed lunch I still needed a "full meal" for dinner as a child as did the other children I knew.

Just pack their lunches but don't be surprised if they still need full meals for dinner 6 or 7 hours later.