To think school could have changed the menu a bit?!

[Fluffyyellowduck]

Spring term lunch menu (primary) and there are zero changes from last term. 😬

There were a number of meals quite a few of us on the group chat were hoping would not still be on the menu as they didn’t seem to be popular with the dc.

It’s an Academy and they do their own catering. The head cook hasn’t changed and usually changes the menu each term.

Has anyone else’s school done this? It’s so frustrating.

AIBU to think they could have made a few changes?!

I can’t say I’ve ever looked at the menu or honestly paid much attention when DC tells me they don’t like the lunch on a certain day. They can always have a sandwich alternative and it’s far easier for me to pay for lunch than it is to pack a lunch. I especially can’t imagine discussing it on a WhatsApp group, but ours does have some absolute busybodies on there so now I think about it I’m surprised it hasn’t been brought up.

😂😂😂

Our school lunches seem to go down hill a bit each term. They do change every term and a half though (so twice a year). Maybe yours will change after half term?

Yes I would have said this when just my eldest was at primary. “Oh she’ll find something she likes, why are they bothering to tell us the menu?” And other smug stuff.

Have a child who is fussy or has food issues then you’ll know.

I think you've been given quite a hard time here. My DC mainly take packed lunch but I feel for the kids whose families can't afford this and are stuck for the 3rd year in a row with minor tweets to the same menu. Was just looking at next week and it was a choice of quorn dippers with a korma sauce and bombay potatoes and some other vegetarian curry (no meet monday), followed in the week with similarly unusual options like "bubble coated salmon". My children aren't the fussiest of eaters but the choice is grim and a change wouldn't hurt.

Voice it to the pta or better yet join yourself. Then you can speak to the school about it and find out why? Presumably you are talking about your kids class and that might not be representative of the whole school. Also school budgets are dire and if you did join the pta you'd get a better idea of how your school functions and the challenges.

I looked forward to macaroni cheese for my school dinner, it was always on a Thursday, every week without fail for the entirety of primary school. I'd have f**king rioted if they had changed it.

That was a good 30 years ago now. Best macaroni cheese ever.

However - yeah. I think you may be a tiny bit unreasonable

My sister told me about group chats like this when her eldest joined reception, she muted it after a long winded discussion about jacket potatoes coming off the menu, some the other parents had 'prepared' their children for jacket potatoes and were most unhappy when they didn't materialise at lunchtime.

If I was in your group chat, I'd mute it.

You sound over invested in what school serves 🤷‍♀️
Think you should get a hobby

The snide, snarky comments are just shit. People should care more about their children's food and health. Children need to eat a variety of foods to get the nutrients they need and that means attempting to make it interesting to them. We should care more not less! There are no prizes for being too big and important to care about what your kids eat.

I do care what my kids eat, which is why I send packed lunch.

This thread is ridiculous because schools can't afford decent meals, anyone who can read a paper should know this.

Our schools have such a low standard on everything, why should food be any different?

Ours too. Surely it makes sense financially too?

Not so much now as a lot more is frozen.

What caterers can produce out of the budget isnt as good as 5 or 6 years ago.

My eldest is in Y6 and they've had the same menu since she's been there. They change the description of meals slightly each term but it's the same food on the exact same days of the week.

Go ahead and fund it then, including the staff time needed to 'flip' it. I'm sure schools would be delighted to have your financial and culinary assistance.

I think it is a shame, but then so typical of the UK. Let’s give them the bare minimum, bargain basement bland barely-recognisable food. Why not flip it and use it as an opportunity to introduce kids to something better?

But no-one has said that is what they are getting.
You are just making things up now.

The cook is having to meet so many criteria. It is nothing like a parent feeding a family at home - the school cooks have so many rules to work within and a very small budget. Suddenly coming up with changes of menu isn't possible.

'Seasonal vegetables' isn't really relevant when you use frozen veg.

Plus, as I have said before, and others have mentioned on this thread, many, many people get a lot of comfort from things staying the same. Most people are creatures of habit to a greater extent.

A rotating 4 or even 2 week menu is not a lack of variety. A term time menu being repeated year after year isn’t really repetition either.

does anyone ever actually go, oh I ate this last year on the third day of school. How disappointing.

Haha. When I was at school it was the same menu every week for 4 years.

There were 4 sittings in rotation and if you were on last sitting you always got stuck with the cod mornay or the spam fritters and the tapioca dessert.

We used to suck it up. I don't remember any parents being up in arms about it either.

Oh, to have the time for this even to appear on my radar ... let alone fixate on it!

I don't disagree but, whenever we introduce new things, the number of children choosing school dinners that day falls. We know which meals are popular. They are barely cost effective as it is. At the moment, many schools will have no choice but to leave 'exposing children to a wider menu' to parents.

This is why I avoid school group chats. Petty, pathetic individuals with too much time on their hands.

Whilst I understand the ‘which day is PE?’/ ‘when is the trip?’/ school WhatsApp groups, I have to say these ones you describe can be incredibly toxic.

Parents will pick apart all the little things they don’t like about school and instead of addressing issues themselves, they gang up and fuel each other, creating big issues where there is no need.

It’s no wonder school staff are leaving the profession when they can’t get anything right. I bet there’s no talk on the what’s app about everything above and beyond that the school and its staff does for your children.

It’s a school on a budget, not a restaurant! Send packed lunch or let you kids learn they won’t love all food