Head not allowing my DD school packed lunch

[peacockfeather11]

This is the first time I taking this up directly with the HT. DD says the food awful and bland, this was brought up last year with the HT by a group of parents and as usual the response was 'we will try a new menu'. It did work for a few weeks and then the standard dropped once again, by then the parents had given up.
Now again this year and same issue, I sent an email and was told they have a 'no packed lunch policy', I can't find this one their web site and no-one seems to think it exists and that a new menu will be introduced. DD is so hungry after school and being in Yr6 has more work but has lost her appetite since going back. She generally has a good appetite and will try anything but says the school food is making her sick.
I sent another mail before holidays and never got a response. I don't know what to do. Any suggestions?

Report on BBC that they are now reducing the number of computers schools are getting. One school getting 13 when they had been promised 61 and Head said 61 weren't enough.

This govt aren't putting children first.

What's the reasoning behind banning packed lunches?

It doesn't make sense to me.

Children need to eat during the day, schools shouldn't be allowed to deny them a packed lunch. On the one hand we are told parents should be taking responsibility for feeding their children and then on the other you can't give them a lunch they will eat.

Most schools have a reduced menu due to CV19.

It is not making her sick, you need to address her emotional concerns over this. Does she have any other SEMH needs?

Maybe try looking at some of the excellent resources about children around the world who don't have access to food.

Thank you all or your suggestions. I will ask for a copy the policy (it's not on the website), HT won't see me because of Covid and hasn't even responded to my second mail. I will mail the governors too.

In my last mail I said that DD will be bringing in packed lunch after half-term. So, do i do that and let them deal with it?

Also, yes we pay for school dinners.

It doesn’t sound like it’s the menu, it’s the quality of the food and cooking that’s the issue. I wonder if the staff eat the same meals?

I also wonder if they are making a profit on the meals (by buying ultra cheapo pre made crap) and using that to plug other funding deficits. This would be one explanation for a no packed lunch policy. Although there are other less cynical explanations.

I would email again like you've said, send her with packed lunch after half term and definitely stop paying. In the email you're about to send I would give notice about stopping the payments.

I agree that OP has a right to contact the HT about the schools no packed lunch policy so I'm not saying it's not important. But if OP starts bandying about the term "safeguarding issue" in relation to bland school dinners she will achieve nothing, other than making a total arse of herself
Well said.

Have you looked at the meals on your LA website (assuming its a state school) The place that provides our meals has an interactive menu where we can click and see the exact recipes used for each meal.

My ds school (secondary) is only providing a grab and go ready prepared packed lunch for children not bringing their own. Its so that catering staff aren't hovering over saucepans all morning - part of their covid safe procedures. Can you tell them that you will be sending your child in with their own lunch for the same reason?

My mum used to work in the canteen at my high school and went a few times to cover at my old primary school when they were short staffed. She couldn't believe how little food the children were given compared to the high school kids, and there was only a few pennies difference in the price.

I remember for pudding we would be asked what fruit we wanted and then they would cut it in half. Even back then I thought it was very stingy!

This was a while ago though obviously... I am 30 now. But yes I think the school were making a profit to use elsewhere.

Bolognese with broccoli is a bit odd. Only the lamb kebab sounds good out of that. I wouldn't be paying, they can't make you buy something you don't want. My DS tried school dinners for a week in year 6, he is used to spicy food so found them too bland too.

I think you should insist that she has a packed lunch.

I'd be seriously tempted to say she's gluten free+veggie+dairy free+whatever other convoluted combination you can think of, or that she is currently excluding certain food groups to establish allergies, so needs a packed lunch that is catered individually to her.

This is a good idea, then they'd have to make allowances. You could try and get the doctor to write something maybe.

I know we can't always get what we want in life, but people shouldn't have to put up with food they find vile and makes them feel sick if it's avoidable.

DSS’s school (secondary) is not providing any food - he has to take a packed lunch, and he keeps the box in his rucksack. The inconsistencies are bizarre.

Bolognese with broccoli is a bit odd.

It’s school dinners not a gourmet restaurant.

To be honest I think your daughter is being a bit of a drama queen - so bland it makes her feel sick 🤣

A few sandwiches and a bit of fruit in a packed lunch is hardly going to be much more exiting

Re a previous post. Please don't claim to need gluten free or any other health related diet when you don't. It's hard enough for people with genuine medical needs to be taken seriously as it is and the powers that be knowing that any claims to be coeliac/allergic/diabetic etc may well be bullshit to get what the person wants just makes it worse.

I've never heard of a school not allowing packed lunches, this a new one on me. Has the HT explained why this is?
The only reason I can think of is that if the school employs outside caterers, some catering companies insist on a minimum turnover to avoid charging the school more for their services, so this puts the school under pressure to get pupils buying food in the canteen. Although I would think that the school may not admit to this.
If you aren't able to obtain a satisfactory explanation I would suggest you take it up with the school's governing body. As a parent you have a right to do this.

My younger sister had the same problem at school (and her dads house) they would try and make her eat things she didn’t like until the point she was sick and consequently became afraid of trying new things and ending up in tears at the thought of it, she still won’t eat anything new even years after it’s stopped because she’s homeschooled and we spoke to her dad, it’s horrible, start a petition

The inconsistencies are bizarre.

^^totally agree. Banning of packed lunches is strange. That said my kids wouldn’t object to broccoli with Bolognese and I’d fight a different battle unless they were refusing to eat anything. A lot of kids actually like bland and it’s normal for kids to be hungry after school isn’t it?

One of the schools near me is bringing this in , its supposedly for healthy eating . I expect it will be a requirement at lots of schools soon as it also facilitates a private company to provide them .

I totally understand where you are coming from, my DD would often not eat what was provided, she didn't like it at all. But our school were concerned and try to offer her different things and eventually asked us to provide packed lunches because she ate so little.
In your shoes I would 100% switch her to packed lunches, stop paying and if that means she has to come out of school while she eats so be it (if it can be done in your circumstances). It's simply not true that if they are hungry enough they will eat. Mine won't.

@FixTheBone

No child ever starved in front of a plate of food...

Load of rubbish.

And I absolutely would if it was something I really disliked. Cauliflower cheese for example

How can they refuse packed lunch and expect you to pay?

I'd refuse

I hoped this went out in the 90s, saying kids had to eat stuff. I saw a girl throw up in the lunch hall at my primary when they tried to make her eat something in about 1986 Not everyone can force themselves to eat things.