School dinners - any good providers out there?

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Is anyone really happy with school dinners at their school? Ours are honestly pretty awful - constantly running out of food and leaving children hungry. There seems to be a longterm trend of more and more parents getting fed up as children move up the school, and switching to a packed lunch. I'm not super fussy, and would call beans on toast a healthy meal, but honestly, they're crap.

It's tough to do it on a low ingredients budget, sure, but children are regularly leaving school hungry - they should have eaten under 3 hours ago.

I could rant for ages, but I'll move over and hope there are some good providers out there - maybe the school could switch if that were true.

ours are provided by part of the county council - even though the school is now an academy
the food seems good

Ours are good on the whole. Everyone eats in school from babies up to year 6 and all staff. Thomas Franks is the company - but obviously it is partly down to the chef/team at the school as well.

Ours are good. Provided by the county council. As much meat and veg as possible is produced locally. All of it is cooked on the school premises.

Ours are amazing, all cooked from scratch and compulsory, no packed lunches
Every child eats it, it's amazing
Independent school though

Really good meals for everyone from 1 to 18 years and all the staff eat too. Chef employed directly by the school.

Dd loves the school dinners at her current school. They are done by Sodexo. She often chooses to stay & have her evening meal there too.

Ours are done by Edward's and Ward. They had a tasting session for kids and parents last year and I was impressed. The kids do get a meal that's nutritious and it tastes pretty good. They have the odd bad day but generally the school dinners are very popular.

So are Sodexo/Thomas Franks catering at a state school, or is this independent? I ask because I'm guessing the food budget may be significantly different.

We're in a bog standard state primary, on £2/meal including staffing and other costs - probably quite high since everyone with sense opts out. It's currently provided by the county council team, who are unresponsive to complaints. On the day they checked there was enough food, so there clearly isn't a problem...

It is an independent school (sort of) as the government pay for many of the children to attend. Lunch costs £2.20 & evening meal costs £1.

My youngest son has school dinners and they are yummy, healthy and always fresh. My husband is always shocked that my son has had things like lasagne, hot roast pork ciabatta and paella. Admittedly it is a private school and the dinners cost 50% more than the local state schools. My son did go to state school previously and the dinners were not great. I got sick of paying £10 per week to find out that there was no choice left by the time my son was served or that he got half of something because it was the last one and he had to share it with somebody else or that he was hungry because the portions were so tiny. I would have put him on packed lunches but he wanted hot dinners. I think schools can provided decent meals for £2 per child per day so I can't understand why they are so substandard and measly in size.

Our provider is Hampshire County Council - and they are brilliant. A lovely example of how an in-house provider whips all of the generally awful profit-driven companies. Healthy, edible and varied. Two roasts a week. What's not to love?

lemonsole
www3.hants.gov.uk/hc3s.htm
we are indeed lucky in this county

I am a teacher and most of the schools I have worked at you could not pay me to eat the food, let alone ask me to pay!!!! Sodexo involved in 2 of those.

My current school however (academy) have on site cook and provide breakfast and cooked lunch with at least 3 options plus veggie option, full salad bar and fruit bar every day. Self service so portion size regulated by pupils. Staff and pupils sit down to lunch together. Also provide free breakfast for all free school meals pupils and free Christmas dinner for all pupils and staff, which was a very jolly affair.

Ooh yes lemonsole my DD lives for her roasts and "hampshire beefburger" the fact that we can see menus in advance and( at her school anyway) pay for the days we want is very good too . The only complaint I have from DD is about fish fridays - She gets to take a pack lunch in then.

We have gone back to the old fashioned all in house cooked from scratch way. The cook and kitchen staff are employed directly by the school. They get support from the County Council with menu planning/meeting nutritional requirements etc. They're really very good.

However, they don't come cheap. We are in a pretty deprived area with lots of FSM and even more "working poor". The governors took the decision that meals had to be good,the portion sizes bigger but the price low (£1.80). As a result some of the school's funding goes towards providing meals. Not commonly known and I suspect would be unpopular with some as not all families benefit (some still have PL)

Not being funny but the Hants menu doesn't look that great or healthy to me,certainly no better than most packed lunches.Also I'm a big sceptical re pics,do they they get that amount,do they run out?

Devon Norse is shite.Teeny tiny portions which always run out and a not particularly great or healthy menu(carb heavy and sugary)- pink custard,grey minced fish fingers,and artificial sweetener laden yogs anyone?

They big it up with creative language but they are awful in reality and my kids beg not to have them.Their packed lunch knocks spots of them- healthy,balanced and enjoyable.

retro
H3CS go head to head tender against others
at DCs school they do not seem to run out of stuff on the days hot food is wanted
the smell of baking if I pop in to school mid morning is amazing
at primary level I know they get good uptake

Oh Devon Norse bakes- masses of sugary tasteless shit.Never known my DS to reject baked goods until he had a DN dinner.

Portion size does vary according to child size - at least, it does seem to in our school.

Two packets of crisps and a biscuit is a not uncommon packed lunch at our school so, no: a packed lunch is not, for most kids, a healthier option.

And we don't have the lunch box police, because they don't believe in making the child suffer for inadequate parenting. So a Hants lunch makes a huuuuge difference to lots of kids.

Retro pear - your meals sound grim. The Hants sweet potato and lentil curry is to die for. And I say that as a very keen cook.