To think this woman has humiliated herself and her kids?

[QueenOfTheEighthKingdom]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6980167/Children-allowed-bread-butter-lunch-school.html

I don't blame the school at all. I imagine there were repeated requests for payment and she must have known the rule (that the school probably thought they wouldn't have to enforce) Why on earth go to the media publicising something that makes you look like a neglectful parent and embarrasses your kids.

Our school is a bit more understanding and gives a days grace if we've forgotten to pay (we still have to pay, but the next day as the count is run in debit). Something I've been glad of a couple of times because I work full time, including night shifts (as an NHS biomedical scientist) and the next morning I can't function as a human being until I've slept a few hours.

Yes, she probably should have paid at the end of the last term, but she was working and looking after SIX kids, including two pre-schoolers - easy to judge someone when you're not walking in their shoes, maybe a bit of empathy?

That said, they're not leaving them to starve, bread-and-butter and an apple will keep them going just fine, so a bit of overkill probably prompted by the Daily Fail there.

Most of the people I know with 5+ kids run their households like a military machine. They know exactly who is having hot dinner when: well in advance & would not get caught out. The two moms-of-many (I know) who didn't manage their broods so well, 1) ex-addict & 2) neglectful gal who had all her kids taken away.

The school had already given the children free food, 17 quids worth. They had to draw the line somewhere.

6 kids!!! That aside, the boys basically got a jam sandwich and fruit. They won’t have starved. Pathetic mum.

She would be extremely disappointed if she was in contact with SS. Their bar is unbelievably high, trust me

Cannot believe this woman professes to be worried about the impact on her children of being made to sit in front of their friends and eat bread and butter but seemingly unconcerned about the impact of them and their bread and butter being splashed all over the press

Im more concerned people think the kids would starve on that. 1 jam samdwch and apple is more than enough. Probably 300 calories.
Say toast for breakfast +100
Crisps +100
Apple/banana +50-100
Tea of 500-600
=1200
Not even including milk or oj
Which may be a bit low but i imagine is balanced out by parties (birthdays 8 times a year)
I would guess a 10yo might need 1500 cal a day?

Our school, in fact our borough, operates a cashless system. School dinners can only be ordered of the parent/child's account has money available. If no money is available a phone call or text informs the parent that they either need to top up the account or send in a packed lunch. Failure to do either, means that the child gets a basic lunch -bread and butter / cheese and biscuits.
Unfortunately, school budgets do not allow us to subsidise the cost of meals. It may only be a few pounds, but when you multiply that by several families each week, it soon becomes a huge sum.

Perhaps she should be more worried about bailiffs knocking at her door or even Police for theft.

To be fair if they ate both a packed lunch and school dinner on the quiet a few times before Easter they're hardly going to be wasting away from having a jam sarnie and an apple for one day.

For a 10yo boy it says 2032 so more than i thought but even so it is an average so will go above and below. A 300 cal chocolate bar or piece of cake. Another piece of fruit.
What can be said is the energy may be quite spiked with the sugar from the jam.

Our school is a bit more understanding and gives a days grace if we've forgotten to pay

She was given two weeks notice!

If you add a slice of cheese, it is basically a meal deal-fruit, water, sandwich! (Or maybe I'm really boring in my meal deal lunch selections )

It's the bit about how 'she doesn't recall getting any other texts from the school' that gives it away.

Yep "doesn't recall" means "I did get them, I just ignored them for whatever reason"

It's all about language really.

If the article had said "child was given a sandwich, fruit and a drink" there wouldn't be so much hyperbole. It sounds quite reasonable as a lunch. It's what a lot of people eat every day.

But to say "only given bread and butter" like they're being given dickensian orphanage scraps makes it sound so much worse. It's just sensationalism.

I'm sure she will have ensured her children had a hearty breakfast before school, so fruit and bread would have lasted them til the end of the day (2 hours ish), as I'm sure she had a great cooked meal ready when all 6 got home.

So now she knows, school meals have to be paid for.

My parents used to often fall behind with the payments for my dinners when I was at primary school, not for lack of money, they were just really unorganised. I can still remember feeling really nervous and embarrassed about it. My school always fed me a proper school dinner, but maybe my parents would have got their act together if they'd used the bread and butter shock tactic!