to think schools should allow flexibility between packed lunches and school meals?

[NameChanger206]

My child’s primary school had just implemented a policy which asks parents to choose either packed lunch or school meals, with no option to switch day to day (previously we could). It’s in quite a deprived area, and while some days the school lunch options are fine, other days they really aren’t great and many kids simply won’t eat— and I don’t think it’s fair to expect parents to fund a packed lunch every day when free school meals are available in KS1 for all, any many in KS2 too.

Surely it would make sense to allow a bit of flexibility — for example, letting children have school meals on certain days (especially if they’re entitled to free meals) and bring packed lunches on others?

I understand they need to plan catering numbers, but this feels unnecessarily rigid, especially given how tight finances are for many families right now.

AIBU to think schools should show a bit more flexibility here?

Mine are grown up but I remember that you could choose each week whether they took packed lunches for the week or had school meals. Or you could pay by half term blocks in advance to save admin time. You were encouraged to do this because it helped the caterers to plan and secure more affordable ingredients.

It was not possible to choose school meals for part of the week, but it worked ok because there were always familiar items the menu such as jacket potato and baked beans with cheese if your child did not like the main or veggie main of the day. Could you suggest the kitchen offers something like that as a ‘safe’ fallback?

And please don’t tolerate fussiness unless they have a diagnosed condition. Most kids would live on nuggets and chips given chance, including mine, but as a parent it’s your role to take care of their health by encouraging them to eat a wide variety of foods.

Day to day no. But on a weekly basis yes.

My daughters primary allows you to choose day by day, the kids choose their meal option or packed lunch each morning with the register.

its a 3 week rolling menu.

Blimey we could only change every half term when i was a kid!

The school I work in let children swap and change as they want. Works well because parents get the menu in advance so can decide which is best. Most stick with the same thing every day but some swap and change. Some in eyfs/ KS1 will bring a packed lunch but instead of having it try the school meal knowing they have the packed lunch as a back up (always agreed with parents!)

It's completely flexible at my son's school. The children either say they have a packed lunch or order what they want for school lunch during registration each morning.

Mine has a limited diet so takes a packed lunch with a ham sandwich every single day.

We book a term in advance its a two week rotation and you can pick from a meat dish a veg dish sandwich or lunch from home for each day. You can switch it about via the office. Previously you chose on the day which was easier

Scotland

if you wish a school meal if must be ordered by 8am on the day.

We can book school dinners up to 9am on the day of said school dinners. My dc liked the flexibility and would look at the menu to see if there was anything they particularly wanted/didn’t want and would take pack ups accordingly.
Options are:
meat meal
vegetarian meal
sandwich
jacket potato

The school has approximately 420 pupils if that makes any difference?
Census day was always pushed really hard and made into quite a big event to get as many pp taking up lunches as possible.
Teachers said there was very little waste as kids brought in pack ups when they were supposed to have hot meals but then there were kids who forgot their lunch/weren’t given a pack up so it kind of evened out. Leftovers were given to yr 6’s because school dinner portions don’t differentiate between reception age and year 6 age!

Well I feel lucky. Ours is totally flexible (Scotland). And P1-p5 is free for all. Quite a few choices and you can book it online or pick on the morning when they do registration. DS is p6 now so we decide at the start of the week which lunches he actually genuinely likes and then he takes a packed lunch the other days. No issues.

My friend is a school cook and I asked her how on earth they manage and she said they basically know roughly how many kids will pick each thing as the menus rotate and a lot of kids have a sandwich or a jacket potato every day anyway. They get told numbers by 9.30am. It’s a small school though, about 80 kids so that probably helps.

My youngest ( now 34 and would now be ARFID) had a “ sandwich” ( 2 slices of white bread and butter with no filling) everyday from year R to gcse year! He became slightly braver in the sixth form when it became a ham sandwich. If he’d gone to a school which only allowed school dinners I would have had to move him!

Ours they decide when they go in on the morning.
I can literally decide the night before if I’m making a packed lunch or not. Always been that way

I've taught for decades and in all schools I've been in, the children choose during the morning register what they want for dinner that day.

We have flexibility to choose up until the day before. My child complained that when he was having school dinners he missed a lot of play time waiting for the hot meal to be served so he now just takes in sandwiches (along with the majority of his friends).

In his previous (and much smaller) school he just had to tell his teacher what he wanted for lunch during morning registration, no pre booking required.

He has white bread and butter with ham. He'll eat things with it too but the likes of plain crisps and a chocolate mini roll.

I'd move my son if only school lunches were allowed too, it would be a nightmare.

Dinners are compulsory where I teach (secondary) as there is no where to store pack ups. They are mostly fsm and most eat - breakfast, cereal bar at break and a lunch. For a lot it’s the only meals they get.

Same as my school.
Very small rural school with our own chef.
We have ParentPay and ask people to book ahead so we have a rough idea each day how many are going to be eating a school lunch. But we also double check and do a lunch register each day. Sometimes kids have got a packed lunch but really want the school dinner so we phone home and check. Sometimes they forget their packed lunch so we give them a lunch.
There aren’t really any options - ii’s the one choice (or the veggie version.) We do offer jacket potatoes if you don’t like the main but we strongly discourage choosing them because you fancy a jacket! We just don’t have oven space for loads of spuds.

Both my kids went to different state primary schools and we simply had to have chosen the meal we wanted by 8am on the menu app - we can pick from a choice of hot lunches or a sandwich option. If we select nothing then you have to send in a packed lunch.

I’ve no idea how they manage to cater for it so last minute, but ds always gets the meal he has asked for.

In reality i book all ds’s lunches for the whole half term, so that I don’t forget- and I expect most people do the same so the school will know roughly how many portions to make of each meal and then make allowance for a few stragglers who book last minute.

We use ParentPay across all schools in the authority (in south Wales).

Universal Free School meals for all primary school children, just book on the website by about 8am or most schools double check in the morning if anyone who hasn’t ordered has a lunchbox.

Theres one main option, veggie option and either pasta/jacket potato

Not heard of this before. I work in a large primary and our kids just choose on the day from. 3 meal choices or they have their own packed lunch. My sons school the same, sometimes he'd have packed lunch sometimes school dinners. The exact same at another school I worked at it was all done on the same morning during registration.

Our school is totally flexible. It use to be a little more rigid but can now book up to the night before. Mine mainly have packed lunches with a Friday school dinner. We have odd days that we book a school lunch if we need it.
When my son was on fsm we had to still provide additional food, as the lunches weren't big enough to fill him up!!

We can change day to day. Have to order by 9am for that day.

Ours have this flexibility. We are provided with the menu at the start of term, the menu has a choice of hot meal or sandwich/jacket potato each day. The DC that do not turn up with a packed lunch are asked if they want the hot option or sandwich/jacket potato option at registration.

Our schools do. When they do the dinner register in the morning they just have to say pack lunch or hot dinner and can change on a day to fay basis if they want (as we often do). We are in Wales, if that makes any difference. All the kids in primary school get free hot dinners if they want them.