No free school meals during Feb half term

[noblegiraffe]

The new guidance on free school meals says that schools should not provide food or vouchers during Feb half term.

This won’t be needed as some general funding is going to LAs and they will be expected to provide food/support for the week schools are off.

This is bonkers, right? They’ve only just sorted it so that kids get more than a manky banana, cheese and dry bread for lunch and they’re going to switch to a different system for a week?

Does this government just really hate feeding hungry kids?

YANBU: sticking with one system for feeding disadvantaged kids would be best

YABU: it’ll be fine, no one will fall through the cracks and the transition will be seamless.

@Katyppp very easy to be cool and detached by something that doesn't seem to effect you the scenarios you are sneering at are no stranger to me- when my mum had to leave her job due to her disability worsening, we frequently struggled to afford food, our gas and electric went off regularly and when our oven broke my mum couldn't afford to replace it for over a year. If you couldn't cook it on the hob or in the toaster, we just didn't have it. I receive FSM for my kids and I really struggle with finances, these vouchers have helped me immeasurably. You calling it "hand-wringing sentimentality" is very insulting to me.

I want to add that my kids aren't starving, they don't go hungry. I wouldn't let that happen. But I can easily see how someone could fall through the holes and get in that position. The child maintenance I recieve makes all the difference

@Katyppp

Podgebod, i think it was said on the other thread actually, along with other nonsense about having no gas or electricity, no cooking pots, no ability to cook and, most memorably, no kitchen. One poster even wrote very emotionally about how priviledged they were because they had a kitchen and cookbooks. Such hand-wringing sentimentality gets us nowhere, and only makes people like me slap their head and call nonsense. As i have said before, i look at things in a very unemotionless way, and as soon as that sort of thing is spoken about as being very widespread, my response is to throw up my hands and stop listening.

Oh Katy you had me back onboard until this post.

She never had me on board but I did think she had enough common sense to realise that some families are living in bed and breakfasts and hostels. How privileged and out of touch do you have to be to write that?

@Wheresmykimchi you blame just the tories . I struggled to feed my kids under labour , would marcus rashford not of been a child under a labout goverment at least some of it ? Successive goverments have not addressed all the issues , I don't believe any party is good for all and will fix all the problems

@Wheresmykimchi do you know the tory funder doesn't actually work for them anymore and you also failed that la decide so if a labour or lib dem la chose chartwells that can't be blamed on the goverment , yet you solely want this put in the goverment.
Have you campaigned for fsm in holidays for the last 20 years or just last couple months ? Didn't lib dems have the idea of fsm for more ?

[quote donewithitalltodayandxmas]@Wheresmykimchi you blame just the tories . I struggled to feed my kids under labour , would marcus rashford not of been a child under a labout goverment at least some of it ? Successive goverments have not addressed all the issues , I don't believe any party is good for all and will fix all the problems [/quote]
The Tories are blamed because they’ve been in power for nearly 11 years and have impoverished a huge number of people in that time.

@Banoffeepies I agree some will get overlooked

@VinylDetective yet some won't see it like that , i don't vote for them but I am actually better off than I was under labour and we are not by any means high earners , I live in HA house and I have seen too many take the piss out if the system, whilst others struggle.
No one has ever called for fsm in holidays until now and lots who have been affected by covid and jobs won't qualify for fsm , yet no one seems to think those people may struggle to feed there children too and will be making huge sacrifices.
Its when people go its all tory voters fault and tory donars fault that we loose sight of it all.
Like those ignoring someone shouting loudly but avoiding taxes ?

@VinylDetective also there has been funding given to la for the holidays to cover , yet no one mentions this

It's not the Governments fault if parents aren't feeding children.

So many frustrating points in this thread. Parents don't know how to boil rice or an egg or make a stew?

Before you plan to have children you have a stable job, live in a secure property, have some savings, have life/ critical illness insurance in case you lose said job, be with your partner for a number of years and really question if you will be together forever. Work out how many children you can actually afford to have. Have a contingency plan for job loss.

All this complete crap about "I don't drive, can't afford the bus and the shops are 10 miles away" well what the actual hell did you think you were going to do when you had a child to feed then? You must have thought they would need feeding??

I think there are very few family with no gas, electric, internet or shops near by. Some yes and some with one or two if those factors. Those families that do exist need intervention to get the parents into work, learn to budget, learn to cook.

The problem is people fecklessly have kids without money, a home and a stable relationship and then expect subsidised rent, benefits, food handouts. So long as we keep making it easy to pick up after people they will keep doing it.

All this "my circumstances changed" I would ask by how much, were you a married home owner with money behind you before you had kids then life dealt a blow? In which case let's help you just whilst you get on your feet but I have no time for people that don't work then bleat that they can't feed the kids. Very few people can't work.

[quote donewithitalltodayandxmas]@VinylDetective also there has been funding given to la for the holidays to cover , yet no one mentions this [/quote]
Literally there in my OP

[quote donewithitalltodayandxmas]@Wheresmykimchi do you know the tory funder doesn't actually work for them anymore and you also failed that la decide so if a labour or lib dem la chose chartwells that can't be blamed on the goverment , yet you solely want this put in the goverment.
Have you campaigned for fsm in holidays for the last 20 years or just last couple months ? Didn't lib dems have the idea of fsm for more ? [/quote]
I've always campaigned for it always yeah but more so on a pandemic.

I've never once said I want it solely put on the government.

The funder left in December shortly before the con was all unearthed how ... convenient.

@VinylDetective

She never had me on board but I did think she had enough common sense to realise that some families are living in bed and breakfasts and hostels. How privileged and out of touch do you have to be to write that?

Quite.

Well, back on board...more so that I actually saw where she was coming from compared to her precious posts.

@Fortnumhamper

It's not the Governments fault if parents aren't feeding children.

So many frustrating points in this thread. Parents don't know how to boil rice or an egg or make a stew?

Before you plan to have children you have a stable job, live in a secure property, have some savings, have life/ critical illness insurance in case you lose said job, be with your partner for a number of years and really question if you will be together forever. Work out how many children you can actually afford to have. Have a contingency plan for job loss.

All this complete crap about "I don't drive, can't afford the bus and the shops are 10 miles away" well what the actual hell did you think you were going to do when you had a child to feed then? You must have thought they would need feeding??

I think there are very few family with no gas, electric, internet or shops near by. Some yes and some with one or two if those factors. Those families that do exist need intervention to get the parents into work, learn to budget, learn to cook.

The problem is people fecklessly have kids without money, a home and a stable relationship and then expect subsidised rent, benefits, food handouts. So long as we keep making it easy to pick up after people they will keep doing it.

All this "my circumstances changed" I would ask by how much, were you a married home owner with money behind you before you had kids then life dealt a blow? In which case let's help you just whilst you get on your feet but I have no time for people that don't work then bleat that they can't feed the kids. Very few people can't work.

You haven't got a clue. Not a clue. I don't even know where to start

Anyone else know where to begin with the appropriately named Fortnumshamper’s post because I sure as hell don’t.

@VinylDetective

Anyone else know where to begin with the appropriately named Fortnumshamper’s post because I sure as hell don’t.

Spectacular cross post.

@Fortnumhamper - have you ever volunteered at a foodbank?

[quote Parker231]@Fortnumhamper - have you ever volunteered at a foodbank?[/quote]
Only for married people who lost their jobs suddenly but only for one week while they get on their feet.

@VinylDetective

Anyone else know where to begin with the appropriately named Fortnumshamper’s post because I sure as hell don’t.

I'll start with FOTTFSOFAWYGTFOSM

@Fortnumhamper which world do you live in? Do you not believe in sex before marriage? Do you not understand that people are not all in well paid jobs? Do you not think that it's as important to have income protection as it is critical illness cover, go you not realise that some people can't afford either? Do you not realise that not everyone can buy a property?

You really are one of the most deluded people over ever stumbled across on MN!

FYI I did/had everything you say in your post but I do realise that not everyone is in the same position as I was. I'm not that bloody judgemental.

I was a FSM child when I was at school, around 45 years ago. It was hard. Breakfast was usually a slice of toast. Dinner was the hot meal at school. And in the evening we had a jam or cheese sandwich and probably a piece of fruit. Our FSM was our main meal of the day. I think a lot of people on here are thinking of the lunchtime FSM as a glorified snack, a light meal, not the main meal of the day. During school holidays, our main meal would often be two tins of soup between three of us and a couple of slices of bread. Or, boiled egg and toast. A treat on sundays would be the cheapest possible piece of meat with veg and roast potatoes. Or fish fingers and mashed potatoes - this was at a time when it was de rigeur to have a roast dinner on a Sunday. One weekend we stayed with a relative and on the Sunday, mum was helping to cook the dinner. She opened the oven to reveal the same cut of meat that was such a treat for us. I was their and said how much I was looking forward to the meat. My relative looked at me and told me that the meat in the oven was for the dog! My poor mum was mortified.
We did not get FSM due to my mum's poor family planning choices. Neither was she feckless and wasteful. She certainly knew how to cook. But she was in a situation, not of her choosing, which meant that once she'd paid rent, gas, electricity etc, the money available for food was very limited.
I now work in a school and see children whose parents are doing their best on very little. I also see some whose parents are good at playing the system. I absolutely believe that every child should be fed and if necessary, throughout school holidays. We should never punish a child by allowing them to go hungry because of their parent's circumstances, regardless of the reason.
I am saddened to read the number of people on this thread who seem to think that a child should be punished for the actions of their parents.

Haven't read TFT, I would get too angry.

Holiday hunger has been a thing for decades, not just for 2020.

Why does anyone think that charities exist? Food banks?Charities have been running holiday lunch clubs for years. There are many charities working with disadvantaged families on many things; education, mental health, resilience, budgeting skills, cooking skills, back to work plans, housing, heating poverty etc. It doesn't happen overnight, some disadvantage goes back many generations. It's not a simple to just say 'get a job' 'feed your children' anyone who thinks it is, is clearly ignorant and not willing to look further than their own comfortable lifestyle. It's not as easy to just throw money at the situation either. Have some empathy people.

German comedian Henning Wehn says 'We don’t do charity in Germany. We pay taxes. Charity is a failure of governments’ responsibilities.'

He is bang on - there is no reason for anyone to live in poverty in 2021. The government should step up.

@Erictheavocado

I was a FSM child when I was at school, around 45 years ago. It was hard. Breakfast was usually a slice of toast. Dinner was the hot meal at school. And in the evening we had a jam or cheese sandwich and probably a piece of fruit. Our FSM was our main meal of the day. I think a lot of people on here are thinking of the lunchtime FSM as a glorified snack, a light meal, not the main meal of the day. During school holidays, our main meal would often be two tins of soup between three of us and a couple of slices of bread. Or, boiled egg and toast. A treat on sundays would be the cheapest possible piece of meat with veg and roast potatoes. Or fish fingers and mashed potatoes - this was at a time when it was de rigeur to have a roast dinner on a Sunday. One weekend we stayed with a relative and on the Sunday, mum was helping to cook the dinner. She opened the oven to reveal the same cut of meat that was such a treat for us. I was their and said how much I was looking forward to the meat. My relative looked at me and told me that the meat in the oven was for the dog! My poor mum was mortified. We did not get FSM due to my mum's poor family planning choices. Neither was she feckless and wasteful. She certainly knew how to cook. But she was in a situation, not of her choosing, which meant that once she'd paid rent, gas, electricity etc, the money available for food was very limited. I now work in a school and see children whose parents are doing their best on very little. I also see some whose parents are good at playing the system. I absolutely believe that every child should be fed and if necessary, throughout school holidays. We should never punish a child by allowing them to go hungry because of their parent's circumstances, regardless of the reason. I am saddened to read the number of people on this thread who seem to think that a child should be punished for the actions of their parents.

I hope everyone on the thread reads this

I am going to try to explain my thoughts on this without incurring anyone's wrath.
Clearly this is a very contentious issue and people do feel passionately about it. That is clear.
I have not seen anyone say "Just get a job' or 'just feed your children' on either of the threads i hae been on. I may have missed it though.
I thunk whichever side of the argument you are on, most people are more enlightened than thinking things are that simple. I certainly am.
But time and time again, posters questioning why - not if - children are not being fed are met with statements like the ones above, the underlying tone usually being 'I care, you don't'
As i said upthread, we all know Government policies have to be thought out, budgeted and be workable. Policies can not be based on knee-jerk reactions and caring.
I think the loud shouters on these threads would do well to pay more attention to sone of the arguments on the other side, because thay are what has to be overcome before a sensible debate can be had.