A poll for those with lo's at independant primary, please help!

[Passionflower]

I'm really concerned about the quality of the lunches at DD's school and have made an apt with the acting mistress in charge about them tomorrow morning. So please would you help me out by telling me

a) what your schools charge and

b) what are the lunches like, are you happy with them.

Lot's of mum's seem to be moving towards packed lunches because of concerns about the food served at the school but I think it's really important for lo's to have hot food at lunch time and have decided to be brave and raise the subject with the school.

To kick off we pay £190 a term for hot lunch, £50 for lunchtime supervision only.

On the face of it the menu looks OK but I'm suspicious that there is a lack of fresh fruit and veg and I heard a rumour concerning Mr Kipling cakes this morning. They say that there is always fresh fruit as an alternative pudding but DD1 tells me this is just an orange or an apple, regardless of the season.

A rumour concerning Mr Kipling Cakes?

Opps forgot to mention, also heard a rumour this morning that they only spend 38p per head on ingredients. If this is true then I am really bloody {angry] and will be taking matters much further.

yep, heard this morning that these are often pudding. Horrible things full of hydrogenated fats and artificial rubbish.

what a terrifying rumour

Aww, stop taking th p*ss please. Am only trying to find out if this is typical or not.

Not sure this is much help, but ds' lunches are included in the price and all cooked and prepared on the premises, as far as possible from scratch. Sure they have pizza occasionally and chips once a week, plus stodgy puddings, but the food is very good quality as far as we can tell, and the cook's homemade biscuits and carrot cake are highlights of parents' evening :)
Good-sounding veggie alternatives, yoghurts and salad/fruits are always available. Sometimes ds even chooses these :)

DD's school is hot lunches only and we pay £1.80 a day. There is a choice of meat/veggy main meal and always baked pots and salad. There is also a choice of hot/cold pudding and all kids are given a piece of fruit and cheese and biscuits after the pudding. The food is cooked fresh on site and they take advantage of the school orchard and gardens (i.e. lots of plum based puds at one point!).

The independent school where she attended nursery allowed kids to bring packed lunches and there was no supervision charge (never heard of that TBH). Their meals were dire IMO, e.g. sausage roll and spaghetti hoops but realtively cheap (£1 a day IIRC).

dd2 is at the nursery of a private prep - she eats stodge and plenty of it I think, lots of puddings and roasts

Ah yes that is sounding much better than we get thanks.

Have absolutely no objection to the occasional pizza/fish fingers even chips and consider stodgy puddings a positive plus .

My dd's school offers similar menu - and apple/orange as a fruit alternative. And ds is on the food committee at his senior school and tells me their spend per head is also about 38 p per head. I was shocked when he told me.

My only gripe with ours is that it is served on those horrendous little prison trays! Which ds loves so much he wants for home use
But since Tammy has persuaded him to eat cabbage where we failed I can't really complain

Our catering only went back in-house a couple of years before we joined the school apparently. Before that, they bought into the same caterers that the borough used for its general state school provision. This is the borough that Jamie Oliver did School Dinners in...food was atrocious. Parent and Appalled Cook power prevailed at our school.

My concerns stem from a suspicion that they are using really cheapo ingredients and are not providing a good selection of freshly prepared fruit and vegetables. They didn't bother to cook the main option last week at all (DD1 came home saying they gave her the wrong thing last week cos she was given pasta with cut up cheese on - I always put her down for the main option rather than the pasta/baked spud alternative) Just feel this is really taking the p*ss for £2.60 a go.

Thanks SueW, your schools menu sounds super.

Have now double checked the menu for this term. As I thought it's OK (and I mean OK acceptable not OK great)if the ingredients are good and all freshly prepared.

Today was:
Cheese and tom pizza with salad or
Jacket spud with tuna mayo and salad
followed by Fridge Cake or
Yoghurt or
Fruit ie an apple or and orange.

Tomorrow will be:
Homemade sausage rolls with baked beans and creamed potatoes (no veg)or
Pasta with tomato sauce/or cheese and veg
followed by stewed apple and custard or
Yoghurt or
Apple/orange

DD's school has a chef and food is all prepared and cooked freshly in the school kitchens, lots of organic stuff.

They have proper meals with meat, veg, etc and there is always a veggie option, salads, etc.

Puddings are fairly traditional but with fresh fruit salad daily (melon, strawberries etc) and yogurt.

They also get afternoon tea every day - chocolate brownies, toast with marmite etc.

All included in the school fees.

lol@ this thread but i say nothing

i say

parp

No the food is excellent at our school I'm really pleased with it.

What Bundle

Be honest you want to eat at my school

our school (RC) is locked into massive contract with leading school dinners contractors...parp!

Included in our fees. Choice of a hot meal - most sound good, some indifferent - jacket potato with salad or a pasta option, plus fruit or dessert which again is at times "healthier" than at others. Water or juice to drink.

our school is also locked into some nightmare contract (grrr - council negotiated some massive contract and all state schools got tied in!)

Passionflower - for £190 at term, I'd expect a lot more than what you're getting and I think you're right to complain

Why complain at £ 190 per term ?
I am truly impressed by the skills of school caterers. 2 quid for a meal is quite remarkable when you include labour and equipment, cutlery, plates, etc. Yes McDonalds can do stuff for less, but they get to use the equipment all year round not just term and all day every day...

Even then a decent McD salad is 2-3 quid. No caterer can do cost managment better than McD.

They are not the most popular firm around here I suspect, but they are successful and good at costs.

You aren't going to get wholesome food for under two quid per meal.
Live with it.

Our kids private school uses one of the much maligned caterers for state schools, denounced by celebrity chefs.
Their food is fine, balanced, with several choices, and chips at most once per week. No turkey twizzlers.

But it costs a lot more...

You want better food, you are going to have to pay more for it, or persude the LEA to reduce spending on something else big time.

Lunches are included in the fees. Everyone has school lunches but they do offer a sandwhich/salad option as an alternative to the hot meal. The menu is on a 4 week rotation. Week 1 is this:

MONDAY Pasta Bolognese, Mixed Veg, Garlic Bread. Apple Crumble & Custard

TUESDAY Fish Stars, Mashed Potato, Peas. Chocolate Sponge & Custard

WEDNESDAY Roast Lamb, Roast Potatoes, Broccoli. Rice Crispy Slice

THURSDAY Mince Beed & Onion Slice, Boiled Potatoes, Cabbage. Chocolate Muffin

FRIDAY French Bread Pizza, Chips, Sweetcorn. Treacle Tart & Custard.

Generally they tend to have one processed fish stars/chicken nugget type meal a week, one roast dinner (Wednesdays) one pasta meal, one pie type meal and a chip day (Friday)