What's happened to Free School Meals provision?

[Carpathian2]

I've just had this from my child's school

At a slightly different tangent, & I completely get that some people could feed their kids better on a voucher, & others will think the offerings are shit/boring...

Before all this covid nonsense kicked off, I used to run a couple of school residentials a year, via a third party company. Theatre trip, workshop or other activity, night at a hotel, museum or theme park the next day, sort of thing. Not cheap, although obviously pupils receiving Pupil Premium were subsidised (& covered completely where needful).

There would generally be 2 days of coach travel, so packed lunches were included. They were very seldom eaten, as they were a bit crap & the kids tanked up on junk at service stations instead. One year I was a bit skint & took home & froze about 50 unwanted cheese'n'tomato rolls the kids didn't want when cleaning up the coach as we returned...my dc ate them as toasties for weeks.

Every year, I filled in the feedback & said 'yup, great trip, but your packed lunches are grim, sorry'. Every year I got the same response: we understand, but we provide a cheese'n'tomato sandwich, fruit, yogurt & a juice carton because we've tried to liven things up, & we can't realistically do it; if we offer choices, you have to deal with kids arguing about who wants what, which no one frankly needs halfway down the M1, so we do one vegetarian, halal, fits all except food allergies options & that is what suits our business model.

It's the same set up. A bland, 'edible for just about everyone' box is the easiest option, & that keeps it cheap & practical.

Yes, personally, I'd definitely prefer fifteen quid to spend on fresh food & pulses, tbh. But as OP pointed out, not everyone can cook. If you're trying to benefit as many people as possible, most adults can make a cheese sandwich & most dc can eat one.

I’d have the tomatos myself.

Turn the eggs into cakes or muffins.

She’d have fruit or cucumber sticks for snack with a glass of milk (like at school)

Rolls with cheese as a sandwich for lunch followed by a yogurt.

And I’d turn the potato’s into mash with more of the milk. Beans could be served with the mash and I’d buy sausages or something similar to make an evening meal.

Sweetcorn I’d swap with a family member as neither of us like it.

That could easily do a few lunches for her which takes the pressure off my food budget. I’m not struggling massively but things can be tight so this would help.

@TiredandMoreTired

I’d have the tomatos myself.

Turn the eggs into cakes or muffins.

She’d have fruit or cucumber sticks for snack with a glass of milk (like at school)

Rolls with cheese as a sandwich for lunch followed by a yogurt.

And I’d turn the potato’s into mash with more of the milk. Beans could be served with the mash and I’d buy sausages or something similar to make an evening meal.

Sweetcorn I’d swap with a family member as neither of us like it.

That could easily do a few lunches for her which takes the pressure off my food budget. I’m not struggling massively but things can be tight so this would help.

That's assuming people have spare money to buy sausages, flour and sugar though? I do think there's enough on its own right there to make lunch for your child every day if that's all there is, but if you do have the extra ingredients in or money to get them that's even better

@spanieleyes - why are some schools providing vouchers then?

@Watermelon999 - you still need to go to the supermarket to get the rest of your food. Having to go to school as well makes more people you are coming into contact with.

As I said my budget is tight but not desperate so I could afford sausages I do know people who couldn’t though.

It’s assuming you would have the extra bits (any bits you like) because it’s suppose to be an addition to your existing food groceries.

There’s no pleasing some people.

Sounds like plenty for a child to eat. It’s just 5 lunches for the week, the school aren’t providing every meal.

@funinthesun19

The government have really put schools in a mess haven’t they? Schools are now having to scramble around trying to sort shitty little food packages together after the government closed them.

School meals at school are more exciting than that list. The vouchers give families the freedom to choose their own food. Food their children will actually like and they can plan their lunches accordingly. None of my children like beans so that rules that meal out straight up. Where is the loaf of bread just in case they want egg on toast or beans on toast for children who do like beans? Butter? I have 4 children so 2 jacket potatoes isn’t going to do is it?
What on earth do you put on those bread rolls for sandwiches? Where are the tins of tuna/packets of ham/chicken/cheese spread?
Where are the ingredients to make potato hash or a nice hearty soup?
What about families with more than 1 child?

And shock horror, where are the packets of crisp or packets of biscuits?

Honestly, if I received this, the ingredients would be used as and when. I wouldn’t be using them religiously for my children’s dinners, and I would most certainly be going out to the supermarket the day I receive it. The tinned sweet corn would sit in the cupboard for the next year until I do a cupboard throw out, and I would end up eating the beans myself gradually as none of my children like them. One of my children doesn’t like eggs. The milk would get used for breakfast as what do you use it for at lunchtime?

Surely you can still buy your own food to complement the things in the box, as you would every week normally for the other meals at weekends and for breakfast and dinner/tea?

You must normally buy bread and butter Etc?

The food parcel seems fine to me.

I think one of the issues is that many schools will already have ordered and paid their caterers to provide food for FSM pupils, using the grant they receive for that purpose.

If the schools provide vouchers they will be paying twice for the same thing, which doesn't make sense.

I'm not really sure why the OP came on to Mumsnet to complain about something she then says she doesn't need.

But I think it is an indication of how high expectations are when some people complain about something that is (a) free (b) completely normal, basic food. Even with allergies there is something there for everyone and a fair bit leftover, which allows for an allergy or preference.

It's not the OP's fault what the system is but I wonder how much food is being wasted up and down the country for pupils on the PP but who don't want / need the food.

I have heard anecdotally that food parcels schools are providing are not being collected, but I don't know on what scale this is. But its obviously not good for the environment and is not a good use of resources.

Surely you can still buy your own food to complement the things in the box, as you would every week normally for the other meals at weekends and for breakfast and dinner/tea?

Of course and that’s exactly what I would do. All I’m saying is that for some people the vouchers would have given them a better opportunity to buy the things they actually want. I don’t see what is so wrong with that. We all have preferences believe it or not.

Even with allergies there is something there for everyone and a fair bit leftover, which allows for an allergy or preference

To be fair, I'd be a bit stuffed if that food was meant for me, as I wouldn't be able to eat the cheese, milk, yoghurts or eggs so I wouldn't be left with much I could eat.
I'd have thought they'd have to cater for allergies though if that was the case, surely they wouldn't send out eggs and milkif people were allergic.

That list looks well balanced to me - protein, fruit and veg, calcium and carbs to fill the kids up.
My daughter was on FSMs when she was at school and I would have been very happy with this. It would probably have been enough to feed her and me with a bit more bread.

My dd is in school and the catering company are not providing hot meals through lockdown. So the key worker children aren’t getting a hot dinner so I’m sure the children at home will manage without one.

Seems like a fine list to me and if I was struggling I’d be grateful the help was there. I hope they’d consider allergies though.

Love these posters saying it's what they give their DC for lunch. That's fine. Unless you are relying on a fsm to be the main meal of the day because all you can manage is an egg sandwich for tea. I'm guessing the ones shouting it's what theirs get for lunch can also manage a main meal in the evening? And milk at bedtime and maybe a some toast and central heating while it's so cold and hot water in the morning and a warning breakfast and on and on and on.

Dicks!

Our primary school was providing an option of a warm or cold lunch to be collected daily from the school. We are in Scotland where all children get free school meals given first three years of primary, after that it is dependant on earnings, benefits. We are not entitled as dd is only at preschool and income wise are lucky. However some people do and did. This lockdown they are going to put money directly into the parents bank accounts so they can spend it as they see fit. Yes, some parents will spend widely but others won't. There was a consultation after the first lockdown and most parents preferred this option to vouchers, it also meant less school staff needed to be on the premises arranging meals and handing them out or delivering to those that were shielding.

I think the box will provide adequately for an average child for 5 lunches. All the items may not get used, as your child might not like them but you could have those or another sibling might. The idea is surely that it saves some money for parents (that will probably be spent on heating and wifi) parents would still need to provide breakfast and dinner. Schools can't cater to every specific dietary requirement and it does seem that the box in the op is aimed at the masses. There is a sense of entitlement on this thread, can you imagine the logistics of trying to send out a personalised hamper to each family? I do think money in a parents account is probably a better solution for many but then you run the risk of it not being spent on food. It seems schools can't do right for wrong.

This should be wholly funded by the government and more needs to be done, if people are looking to school to provide their kids with the only warm meal or balanced meal of the day then there is something seriously wrong with our society and some difficult questions need to be asked. I would never begrudge a child food whether their parents are on a low income through difficult circumstances of feckless choices, it doesn't matter.

Schools get £1320 pupil premium for each fsm child to benefit them WHEN IN SCHOOL.
They aren’t in school currently so I’m sure this money could be used and choices of voucher or hamper offered instead !
@Woodenhearted - do you have even the faintest idea about how schools run and how their budgets work? Do you honestly believe that after a decade of Tory underfunding schools are just sitting on thousands and thousands of pounds of funding for pupil premium children? Hasn't it occured to you that this money might have been spent on a teaching assistant to work closely with these children to try to ensure they are not falling behind? A teaching assistant who will still need to be paid during the pandemic. Or maybe it was spent on some expensive software/intervention resources that would benefit pupil premium children.
Who, exactly, do you think is available to sort out all the admin involved in giving parents the choice between wanting vouchers/for which particular supermarkets/food hampers directly catering to each child's preferences/whether they'd like to collect it or have it delivered? Who is doing that job, on top of their normal job? And if they have to work overtime, who is paying for that? You have made so many comments on this thread and, quite frankly, you appear ill informed at best. Utterly clueless is more likely.

@kowari
Yes thank you, and what a grotesquely middle class narrow minded thread it is.
'SURELY you can top it up like you USUALLY would'. You don't take in to account the thousands of people that have been on furlough since March or even lost their jobs altogether. For some of those even the bus fare to collect the box will be too much. It's great some people's primary school children would eat very well on the ingredients listed. Anyone that has ever owned a year 9 boy knows they eat considerably more than a primary aged child.
Yes, those people can go to food banks where we will do everything we can to help them. But strangely enough many are too proud to ask for help. I can't begin to think why looking through this thread.
There but for the grace of God go I...

@FutureDuchessofHastings

*Schools get £1320 pupil premium for each fsm child to benefit them WHEN IN SCHOOL. They aren’t in school currently so I’m sure this money could be used and choices of voucher or hamper offered instead* ! *@Woodenhearted* - do you have even the faintest idea about how schools run and how their budgets work? Do you honestly believe that after a decade of Tory underfunding schools are just sitting on thousands and thousands of pounds of funding for pupil premium children? Hasn't it occured to you that this money might have been spent on a teaching assistant to work closely with these children to try to ensure they are not falling behind? A teaching assistant who will still need to be paid during the pandemic. Or maybe it was spent on some expensive software/intervention resources that would benefit pupil premium children. Who, exactly, do you think is available to sort out all the admin involved in giving parents the choice between wanting vouchers/for which particular supermarkets/food hampers directly catering to each child's preferences/whether they'd like to collect it or have it delivered? Who is doing that job, on top of their normal job? And if they have to work overtime, who is paying for that? You have made so many comments on this thread and, quite frankly, you appear ill informed at best. Utterly clueless is more likely.

No because I don’t work in a school so how would I know ? I was just wondering if that pupil premium money could be used in situations like this. And who would facilitate finding out who wants a voucher or a hamper? Well maybe the office staff ? They are the ones who contact us and arrange it and have done even this week they are there in school ? I may be ‘utterly clueless’ according to you but you seem quite frankly utterly rude

And yes I have made a lot of comments on this thread I’m not Ill informed We get fsm so I have first hand experienceof what works for us and many others that we know also on fsm. It’s all well and good speculating what you think might work or be the best option but the people with the answers and solution to the best option are those who need this help we can tell people what works best for us.
My comments about schools were suggestions and ideas

Unless you are relying on a fsm to be the main meal of the day because all you can manage is an egg sandwich for tea. I'm guessing the ones shouting it's what theirs get for lunch can also manage a main meal in the evening?

To be fair, if the schools were open, they'd only be providing lunch for your child, they wouldn't be buying food for their main evening meal as well.
So this is just replacing what they would have if they were in school - a lunch.
So that's why people are saying things like egg sandwiches or jacket potato and beans or whatever.

Love these posters saying it's what they give their DC for lunch. That's fine. Unless you are relying on a fsm to be the main meal of the day because all you can manage is an egg sandwich for tea. I'm guessing the ones shouting it's what theirs get for lunch can also manage a main meal in the evening? And milk at bedtime and maybe a some toast and central heating while it's so cold and hot water in the morning and a warning breakfast and on and on and on.

Dicks!

My thoughts exactly! Some people need to open their little minds a bit and see why this package isn’t so great to some people. It’s actually depressing that people think an egg sandwich for lunch and tea is something to be happy about if that’s all that people have. That’s just surviving on something you’ve had no choice about eating.
It also can’t be very nutritious for children having to eat the same old food every day.

@Carpathian2

I've had a good luck at that list and there's no way that food can last a couple of days never mind a week! I really feel for the people who are desperate 😡

It's oy for lunches

No because I don’t work in a school so how would I know ? I was just wondering if that pupil premium money could be used in situations like this.
And who would facilitate finding out who wants a voucher or a hamper? Well maybe the office staff ?

Right.. it's just that you said earlier that you were sure that PP money could be used to fund things like this. (Parents getting a choice of vouchers for any supermarket of their choice, or having a luxury hamper catered to their child's particular preferences and having it delivered or them collecting it.)
Do you not think that being an administrator in a school office is already a full time job? Do you assume they just sit around for hours every day with nothing to do to fill their time? Ask yourself what is not being done, for every child and member of staff at the school, in order for the office staff to dedicate hours every day to fulfilling your every desire? As school admin is a relentless and busy job, already requiring more hours than are usually paid for, when are they supposed to get this extra work done? And who is going to pay for their overtime, if they are available to work overtime? Where is that money coming from?