School dinners v packed lunch

[F05ters1]

Reception age daughter begging to go on packed lunches already after 6 weeks of full time school.

Every day without fail when I ask her what was for lunch I get... fishfingers chips and beans, I didn't like the chips and I'm off beans so I ate the fish fingers. Please can I take a packed lunch?

pasta and cheese, I didn't like the cheese and the pasta was soggy so I just had the biscuit for pudding. when can I go on packed lunch?

mince and dumplings today, mince was too salty and the dumpling was soggy, please can I go on packed lunches?

blah blah takes a packed lunch. (dd has even approached said mum who said her dd was a picky eater 🙄)

why can't you just say I'm a picky eater mum!

For context she'll eat a salmon fillet at home but won't eat a fishfinger.
She'll eat fillet steak but not a burger.
She eats all veg and salad but isn't keen on meat. I make soup packed with lentils and do lots of eggy things for protein

I'm torn. school meals are free and I work shifts, it's been a godsend not having to worry about lunch for the four year old restaurant critic! but she is so adamant, should I relent?

We tried that and were discouraged from doing so. I suspect it is because they are "free" for primary school children in London so the school needs to work out the funding.

Last time we went out for afternoon tea the sandwiches were still frozen in the middle... for £25 per head!

You just have to be a bit selective with fillings. Pate or ham works well, especially in a roll. We don't have the freezer space now but I used to in student days.

It’s not the food, she wants to be with her wee pal.

I'd check if there are any alternatives. Our school have a salad bar and a jacket potato option, but from what I could tell they didn't offer those to reception kids right away (or they just didn't know they were an option!).

Once they did, my daughter switched to salad bar every day except Friday (chips, beans, nuggets and ice cream day!). She has a wrap with egg and/or cheese, and some cucumber / tomato / peppers on the side... which is not a million miles away from what a packed lunch would look like, except she gets dessert too.

She would sort of like a packed lunch, but once I explained that I wouldn't be allowed to send any dessert in a packed lunch but she gets one with a school lunch she agreed to stick with it for now :)

(I too hate making packed lunches!)

How dare you! I am sure the OP'S 4 year old is the most reliable narrator in the UK!🤣

Anyone else has experience of the staff/dinner ladies policing what could be eaten in packed lunches? Nothing with nuts (fine). But no sweets or any desserts, biscuits unless it was Friday.

But the school dinners always had desserts every day of the week

Don't force her to stay on school dinners. Packed lunches take 5 minutes to make and are so much healthier.

Mine will only eat ham wraps or sandwiches. She is desperate for packed lunches but she will have to wait until next year. Probably will have to put some money on for hot dinners just in case. 🙄

We have a menu and have to order at least one week in advance. The choices are very limited and portions small. It’s a bit of a pain getting it ready each morning but if you get the snack stuff ready the night before, it takes 2 mins to whip up a ham sandwich etc. he takes blueberries, bear paws, a small jelly, baby bel, crisps, cocktail sausages etc so all easy to bulk buy and get ready each evening. I also make sure the uniforms are ready the night before so I can focus on breakfast.

My son likes spaghetti bolognaise I can I can make that on a Sunday and just heat it up each morning before putting in a small thermos. He loves it and it’s much more nutritious than what he would get. I did say no to his request for a smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel! That is pushing his luck too far.

School dinners look great on the menu but if you see the food that the school has actually served to your child, it can be pretty disgusting and very unhealthy.

Just make her packed lunches ffs. Disliking school lunch isn’t being picky, it’s having good taste! Yes they are free but they are gross.

A pasta salad is way more nutritious than soggy chips and beans 🤮

In the morning before school:

• boil 70g pasta
• toas it in lemon juice or olive oil to keep it fresh
• cool it in fridge
• add a little black pepper, parmesan and chopped cucumber/tomatoes

= happy healthy kid. Why force her to eat the world’s cheapest chips when she’s asking to be healthy?

My dd takes a flask in with soup, scouse, macaroni cheese, hot dogs occasionally.
It means I know she will actually eat something hot and will like it.

This happens at my DDs school They also police snacks.

So if the OP's DD thinks she can get away with crisps and chocolate biscuits every day of the week she will be in for a surprise.

Anyway I have asked my DD what's she eats for school dinners and have randomly got the truth out of her. They are given chips once a week which is exactly what I got at primary school.

Helpful !

I would compromise and say she can have packed lunch 2 days a week. Then it means you can ensure she eats a bit more but encourages her to stick with school dinners and try more food

This is pretty much our weekly dinners

The school dinners at our school are shite. The government does not provide enough funding to ensure decent varied food.

My kids are used to good quality home cooking so they don't like school food. Eldest is a ravenous boy of a vintage where he will put aside dislike & just eat them, youngest (reception) just won't so has a packed lunch.

@jk987 spag bol and curry (made at home with tasty fresh ingredients) are popular meals in my house. I make the curry mild - its a bit like something between a korma & a tikka masala. The spag bol i make properly, i use a gino dacampo recipe.

School dinners look great on the menu but if you see the food that the school has actually served to your child, it can be pretty disgusting and very unhealthy.

This. I know a couple of people who work in the school who've acknowledged the food is absolutely grim.

There's really nothing wrong with fish fingers, chips and beans

No there isnt. Not when its the good quality ones from the fridge section in sainsburys, a thick finger of cod fillet breadcrumbed. With freshly cut potato wedges from the air fryer.

At our school the chips are weird. The children describe them as more like mash and none eat them. The fishfingers are brakes catering crap, wafer thin with processed fish filling.

Also the sausages? They list the ingredients on the menu including brand names and you can search up the products. The sausages are horrendous. They are on catering websites priced at 20p a sausage and are only 44% meat content. The rest is heavily processed filler including soy and wheat starch.

Its really poor quality food compared to what my children are served at home.

I wasn't being serious. I thought that was clear.

Are these children best served by the papering over the cracks of giving them school dinners though? If the issue isn't money, then they're severely neglected, aren't they?

Genuine questions. I've only ever once been personally involved with a family like this (was helping with a children's club they attended) and just feeding those kids was so far from enough. Although better than nothing I suppose.

my two DC’s currently in ks1 & reception have a mix of packed lunch & school dinners. Our schools are brought in as no adequate kitchen facility so they aren’t ‘hot’ they are ok but not great. They choose with me what they want on those days it’s often the jacket potato with sponge pudding & custard or yoghurt. They love that one of the midday supervisors gives them the leftover custard if they are still hungry 😋 (she asked if this was ok). I do notice mine are quite hungry on those days so I would either compromise or go packed lunch.

Is there no choice?
Mine can choose the main, veggie main, jacket potato with beans or tuna or tomato pasta. We get the menu in advance, which is on a 3 weekly rotation, and it seems pretty good.
My older one is year 3 now and I let her choose. She tends to have school dinners twice a week and packed lunch the rest of the time. My son is y1 and he has school dinner (mostly pasta) every day.

How many peoples very young children actually eat curry/chilli/spag Bol? I'd love it if they did but that's not the reality : (

Both of mine do, they're all firm favourites.