How many lunch options does your child's primary school offer for lunch?

[belowwdeckk]

Ours is a two week rolling menu with a different main meal every day. Jacket potatoes available everyday for those who don't want the main meal.

State primary in London (so all free)
They can choose between:
Meat option
Halal meat option
Veggie option
Jacket potato
We have to choose in advance via an app. If a kid wants packed lunch you just don't select anything for that day. I think it's fine, avoids food waste as the school only make what was pre-ordered and you can do a mix and match of school lunch or packed lunch if you don't like what's on offer that day / if that's your preference. Plus offering both a halal and non halal option to cater to everyone.
It's usually things like shepherd's pie / fish and chips / vegan sausages in sauce / roast turkey etc.

Ours is very similar and our primary has under 70 kids 4-11! Intake of 5 in reception- all the schools here are tiny and mange to do it so I don’t think size is a barrier.

3 week rotating menu : meat/fish option, veggie option and sandwich option . Pudding or fruit.

2: standard and veggie. No other options.

4 week rotating menu, 5 options each day, must order by 9am. The jacket potato option comes with a choice of 6 fillings, sandwich/ roll/ wrap also has a choice of 6 fillings. Really nice menu, choice of 2 puddings also fruit, yoghurt and unlimited salad available daily.

Rural Scottish school

A main, a vegetarian option and a “deli” option, which is usually pizza, panini or some kind of wrap. Plus sandwiches or jacket potatoes with varying fillings.

I think it’s pretty decent. We can order in advance or they can order on the morning. The school requests you order in advance.

Main, veggie, jacket potato, sandwich

2 week menu

I think that's such a poor choice, hot dogs or Heinz soups?!
Honestly it's no wonder we have an obesity epidemic on our hands!

Meat option, veggie option or a jacket potato with a few different options for fillings (I think beans, cheese or tuna). They also have salad and I think they also do soup of the day, although they might have stopped that. Oh and on Fridays they get sandwiches instead. Some kids choose plain rolls every Friday which I personally think shouldn't be allowed unless the parents give written permission for it 🙈

It's a Jewish school so no packed lunches allowed to ensure it's all kosher.

Meat option, veggie, jacket potato, tomato pasta or sandwich

Ours isn’t rolling, it’s just different all the time but with a roast on a Wednesday and a fish & chip/fish fingers etc on a Friday. There’s always a main (other than roast and fish, the other days are anything such as pizza, curry), veggie option of the main, tomato pasta,jacket potato with various fillings, and baguette with various fillings. Apparently there’s a salad bar and dessert too but those aren’t choose-able. Those are the options for each day and you can order an half term at a time, and you can amend up to 9am on the day.

veggie main with dessert
non-veg main with dessert
salad bar
noodle bar
pasta bar
jacket potato bar
sandwiches (older kids)
specials

4 choices. Meat option, veggie option, pasta, jacket potato.

DTs had school lunch for the first time today and had “yellow” pasta. Asked if it was cheese sauce but they are not sure.

Our school does not allow any packed lunches in primary at all. Year 7 they can if they wish.

I am curious to know why parents at the Ops school are up in arms though- it sounds pretty normal really.

I once got very involved with looking at school lunches (I have a child with sensory-related issues with food and I am a natural researcher... ) and really enjoyed looking at what all the primary schools in our area were preparing. Generally it was all pretty impressive. Some schools had photos along with their menus so you could make a better assessment of the quality.

3 week rolling menu, with a choice of standard main, vegetarian main or a jacket potato. With a choice of fruit, yogurt or pudding.
Mondays always a pizza variant, Tuesdays always pasta, Wednesdays always roast and Fridays fish fingers.

Hot meat meal
Hot veggie meal
Meat sandwich
Veggie sandwich
Baked potato

Plus soup and pudding

Four options in a rotating three week menu that changes seasonally.

A hot veggie option, a hot meat/fish option which is veggie every so often (meat and veggie options both have same sides of either salad or veg, and potato/rice/pasta if not main) , a jacket potato (cheese or beens alternating) or a packed lunch for KS2 only ( with a main (sandwich/quiche/pasties or similar, fruit, same dessert as hot options, fruit and veg sticks). Dessert is yogurt with granola/fresh fruit and yogurt/ fruit salad or (twice a week) reduced sugar cake or brownies (usually incorporating fruit and veg). DD loves it.

We need to book a week and a half in advance- ideally all meals booked at the start of the term.

Ours is 3 week rolling menu.

Options are soup, meat main, veggie main, soup and a sandwich, dessert (usually fruit with some kind of shortbread/brownie/cheese and biscuits etc).

Each course is colour coded and kids pick a coloured wristband first thing each morning

Main meal - veggie alternative
Baked potato
Pasta

So 4.

3 week rolling menu

1 meat hot lunch
1 veg hot lunch
1 filled roll option
1 jacket potato- cheese/tuna/beans choice
With salad bar/ veg sides/ fruit/ yogurt plus 2 pudding options. Or packed lunch.

Its pretty crap, they look like naff kids meals. It's not what I'd feed them at home and compared to the continent really not great. But they do get a good bit of variation and choice which is nice.

They can also bring their own packed lunch.

I would definitely eat what they are served.
The booking in advance is because it's catered externally and also to reduce waste.

I can understand parents at your school being annoyed OP. One option a day or a jacket potato isn’t great, but would be fine if parents had the option to send in packed lunches.

At your school it must mean that either everyone’s meal is vegetarian every day or the children who don’t eat meat are stuck with a boring potato every day.

Our school has a three week rolling menu. Usually 3 options - meat/fish dish, veggie dish, jacket potato. One day a week is meat free and there are two veggie options on those days.

I don’t think it would be practical to offer any more options than that - there would have to be a lot of waste to ensure all pupils got a choice.

3 options 2 hot options 1 sandwich option. Everyone can use salad/veg station.

Looking at ours it isn't the most allergy friendly (jacket potatoe is 1 hot option a week) But packed lunch can be sent in which is what parents do for those with allergies.