No food left for older children at school

[Kacee29]

I’ll probably get told I’m moaning about nothing here but here goes.

I have a Dd in infants and a dc in year 5. Dd gets free lunches as they all do. We pay for DS’s lunches as over the years he’s really enjoyed having school dinners. He’s willing to try a lot more food there (he has asd and issues with food). Plus he doesn’t really like packed lunch foods. So yeah he’s always had the cooked lunches.

Now he’s in year 5 he’s the second to last in to get have lunch and on a few occasions he’s not had much for lunch as there’s nothing left - he’s ended up with something he doesn’t like or something like a sandwich which I could make for himself anyway (nor do any of the other children as it’s the last things left 😫) I know I’m sounding precious but he will simply not eat anything that’s given to him.

Aibu to think they should make enough so the children in the older years can eat once they get there? We pay for his lunches but some children get their lunches free if on a low income etc. It’s even worse for those children receiving free lunches as it might be the only substantial meal they get in the day. I know that DS can come home and eat, others might not.

But then I think we pay nearly £45 a month for him to eat. So it’s not really good enough not having enough food?!

They know how many children in the juniors are going to be having cooked food in the morning.

So yeah aibu to be annoyed. Thinking of sending him packed lunch but he generally loves the cooked lunches. This has been an ongoing problem since September. I think the issue lies with that before covid not all infants would take up the free lunches - some took packed lunches. Now the school won’t allow those who get free lunches to take a pack lunch because of covid plus he’s one of the last in!

It makes me so sad when he comes home and says he hasn’t really eaten much so packed lunch it is! 😭

Yanbu

This system must result in a great deal of waste? A few schools use a morning choice booking system at morn ing registration. OK some children might change their mind, but it means catering staff can balance the amount of meals made to be about right. It might be worth a mention?

YANBU at all this is appalling!!!

The people making excuses about being difficult to cater in a pandemic are just talking tosh quite frankly.

DS is in secondary now but his primary had a system where there was a set menu (different options from say 3/4 each day, rotated over a 4 week period) and the children selected their meal either at home online with their parents or if they didn't have internet access it was open on the whiteboard each morning as the children were arriving and they could make their selection then.

The catering staff made quantities according to orders.

At lunchtime the children would queue up and as they reached the front they tapped their name on a tablet and it showed the dinner lady what they had ordered and they were then served that option.

No child went hungry and no mass wastage of food.

There was ONE LADY in the school canteen who did all the meals for 200 children it was that efficient, and a couple of lunchtime supervisors who helped the younger children with what to do.

It's really not that complicated and in this day and age I'm pretty shocked that there are schools still doing the old school method of mass producing and hoping for the best!!

Raise it with the head and if no joy take it to the governors

No, write a polite email outlining your perfectly reasonable worries and wait a couple of days.

I don't really get what the school is doing.

At our primary we have to order option 1, 2, or 3.
That is meat, veggie or jacket potato.

Then the kids are given plastic token as they go to lunch, blue, green or red.
At the counter they hand in blue and gte meat meal. hand in green and get veggie meal hand in red and get jacket potato.

They never run out, because they know how many meals of each they have to make.

Your school needs to sort its system out. Yes I would be complaining too.
Poliet;y write to head, out line the problem and ask to switch to a system where they order options.

Every school I know they choose the red or green option in the morning.

The kitchen cook what they've ordered and usually a meal or 2 extra for each thing in case there is an issue (eg. burst yoghurt or leaked drink in lunchbox or kid who realises at lunch they've forgotten their lunchbox)

If they have food ordered then there should be enough.

This was a pre covid issue as well - this is not new.

My youngest Year 6 had two bananas one day last week - as nothing left. He was not the only one who complained so I know this was not exagerrating and confirmed byt he school.

I pay for the meals - I expect pandemic or not to have a meal, if they want us to do packed lunches then fine but provide the service people are paying for.

Dont get me started on pizza day - when there is none left for Yr 6 because the younger boys got seconds. Yoghurt and the salad bar do not make up for no pizza!

Also why are some schools not doing hot meals? DS's school is, is there a particular reason other schools aren't?

Our school switched to a pre order system a year ago. Kids get their meal and no waste. Win win.

@LemonBreeland

The snarky posters making this a pandemic issue are wrong here. It is a catering planning issue. I agree that there should be some rotation on who eats last, however that still shouldn't mean some kids don't get a proper meal. There should be enough food for all children. I would not accept paying money for my DC to not get a proper meal.

Fully agree. Far too many organisations are using covid as an excuse for poor service at the moment.

@Waxonwaxoff0 My DC's school isn't doing hot meals. They said it's because it's too difficult logistically with COVID and the children eat in their classrooms to keep them in bubbles.

They don't get enough IMO. They get a sandwich, a piece of fruit and an 'after' (biscuit or a cake or something). My DC are in years 1&2 so still free so I pack them extra bits for them (probably not allowed some of the stuff but I don't care). My DC come home hungry and they are 5 and 7. I can't imagine how hungry some of the older children are.

@Kacee29 don’t know if this has been mentioned, but local school send out menu to parents for the week, so parents send completed choices in advance.
It means kids get what they’ve selected. If a child is missing school that day parents are required to let school know morning, so I guess they ensure they don’t end up with too much food (for instance 20 absences that day, so those 20 choices removed).

YANBU

I would go to the head but offer constructive suggestions rather than just a complaint (which is completely valid).

Say what you've said here. Explain that it's not a 'one off' - it's how it is, ask them to implement menu selections at the beginning of the week. That way the kitchen won't over buy / over cook options that nobody wants, and everyone will be fed hot or cold as they want.

People who don't fill in the 'selections' at the beginning of the week get what they get.

Our kids school doesn't have any choice at all since covid. They have a plated meal delivered to their classroom every day, ni choice about what it is. Menu is published in advance so if it's something the child doesn't eat you have to remember to send a packed lunch.

@dingoesatemybaby I wouldn't be happy paying for that. At DS's school they have the normal hot menu, the dinner ladies bring them round to the classrooms on a trolley.

Our school had the system of parents order online, child is told by SMSA what colour they that day from one of four colours, food is cooked with enough tor kids that have forgotten packed lunch, dropped food etc. Everyone has what they want

YNBU. My eldest (now yr 6) has complained for a while that they didn't get enough food - they did order in advance but even so (2 fish fingers does not go far with a 10 year old!). The younger one also started saying the amounts were getting skimpy.

At the beginning of this term the school was only offering sandwich options for school dinners so we got some food thermoses and have been sending them in with pasta and sauce, chilli, pea and ham soup etc. The kids love it! We spent one weekend batch cooking and had enough for the half term. Apparently a few more kids have started bringing in thermoses as well.

Where I used to work the classes took turns in going in. Reception always first as they take longer to eat but after that the dinner ladies held up class numbers so the Yr 6 were not always last. About five years go they had to choose the dish each day, then it went electronically which is awkward for parents without the internet, some parents forgot so we had to log in and order the children’s lunch. While this doesn’t take long for three it wastes time for everyone if more than half the class haven’t done it. The waste margin allowed is very small.

Menus were put up for three weeks at a time. It is really tight for the catering staff to produce the meals for the amount of money given per child.

@FudgeDrudge

100% agree. YANBU

YANBU and wouldn't be 'that parent' to complain that there isn't enough hot food for all of the children. It's nothing to do with covid either it's down to poor management.

My dc's primary school manages to feed every child who has school meals a meal that they will eat. Each day there are four options - one suitable for meat eaters, one vegetarian, jacket potato or a sandwich. At registration every child having school dinners picks their choice which is sent with the register. At lunch time they are given a colour band by their teacher which corresponds to their meal choice for that day. Everyone gets what they asked for, no one goes hungry and there's minimum waste.

The only adaption needed for covid is that now the school meals are delivered to each of the 21 classrooms between 12-12.30 instead of the children eating in the hall in staggered sittings.

It's not on that the older children are left with the last dregs of a hot meal or a sandwich they don't like because they are sent for their lunch last. Especially for those, as op said, on free school meals that may only get a sandwich for dinner at home.

If my dc's primary with over 600 children, more than half of which have fsm, can manage to give every child who wants one a hot meal then so can smaller schools.

@Waxonwaxoff0 I certainly wouldn't be paying if DC didn't have free meals that's for sure!

I'm angry about it but luckily I can afford to feed them a decent hot meal at home. I feel for the parents/kids who can't afford to do this and they get that paltry offering at school.

YANBU
Since September I have been volunteer twice a week helping at lunch times as it’s vey time consuming with all the new covid guidance.
It’s been interesting to see the school meals and they generally look better than I expected.
I have a child in R and one in year 5.
What I have noticed is that the meals are way too small and there’s not an option for seconds.
My Reception child tells me that he’s often still hungry after lunch. He eats well but isn’t greedy and is very tall and slim. My year 5 gets a little bit more but not much. She’s ok with that as she’s keen to get out and socialise!
I think they need to up the amounts! My son has a huge breakfast too so that’s not the problem. They’re only allowed one piece of fruit for a snack too.

Just to add, I’m not very concerned for my own child but it’s worrying for children where this is their main meal of the day...

Another one here who's primary school does the order online, get a coloured band before lunch system. They've done this for the last 4 years and it works very efficiently.

Now, even with this, the last class to eat sometimes runs out of food, if the portion size hasn't been controlled enough. Apparently it can also run the other way, I shall always remember my y6 (and the last class to eat) coming home saying he'd had 8 pieces of pizza for lunch and he really didn't want any tea.....

Our school have an ordering option on our app, you order your childs meals for the week. Although not sure how they monitor who's ordered what.