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Original poster

Do you think this is worth complaining about?

17 replies

haggisaggis · 09/05/2007 16:09

ds gets school dinners every day. There is a 4 weekly menu - with 2 choices every day.
We pay 1.60 per day.The summer menu has choices like - hot dog and fries OR beef sandwich. Pudding frozen yoghurt.

burger or egg / tuna finger roll - pudding piece of flapjack.

I have complained as I reckon the "healthy" choice (sandwich) is not fillinge nough for my 7 year opld - never mind enough for odler children. Do you agree? What additional things coudl they offer to accompany the sandwich? (they are meant to already offer additional bread, salad and possibly a fruit bowl - but from what ds says these are meant to be in place of things the child doesn't like)

OP posts:

Laudaud · 09/05/2007 16:19

Can you do a packed lunch - these options don't sound great to me. I must say I'm surprised that salad and fruit are alternatives rather than extras - I would check that out.

Original poster

haggisaggis · 09/05/2007 16:21

I could do a packed lunch - but teh whole point of school dinners is so I don't have to! (They market the fruit bowl, salad and bread basket as extras - but from what ds says they are really alternatives)

OP posts:

PrettyCandles · 09/05/2007 16:23

Doesn't sound particularly healthy choice, especially if helathier alternatives should be part of the meal, not instead of - I imagine few children would choose them over hot dog and fires. Personally I would canvas parents and see whether enough others feel the same way to request that the school change their suppliers. I would definitely mention my misgivings to the Head. And send dd in with packed lunch.

PrettyCandles · 09/05/2007 16:24

Yeah, I agree with the point of school dinners being so that you don't have to make pack lunches! But I think that sometimes you have to vote with your feet.

Clary · 09/05/2007 16:24

Ours have salad with a big choice and as much as they want, plus bread and veg as add-ons - so they might have all those and the main course, which might be pasta or fishcake or roast chicken. But yes, even if they had the sandwich (actually they don't do them for ur schools any more) they can have the extra bits too.

I would enquire further as children (well mine anyway ) are not always reliable in their reports IYSWIM.

I agree that what you say is offerd is not enough for a 7yo. Have posted before what a typical lunchtime intake would be for my 7yo DS1 (clue - lots )

wurlywurly · 09/05/2007 16:28

those school dinners sound awful. Our school meals arent fantastic but they do have a varied choice

our school menus

Original poster

haggisaggis · 09/05/2007 16:38

wurlywurly - apart from the sandwich thing - our menus are fairly similar (and up to now I have been delighted!) I will check about the salad bar / fruit bowl and see if they are offered as extras. I just have a feeling that they are cutting down on quantities to save money.

OP posts:

NoodleStroodle · 09/05/2007 16:39

That's so unfair - the healthy option should be a proper hot meal.

twinsetandpearls · 09/05/2007 16:43

we pay £1.60 a day and dd loves her school meals.

She doe ssomtimes get sandwiches but that is with a soup, pea soup is her favourite. THere is also a salad bar they help themselves to. They get a roast dinner once a week which is dd favourite and also fish at least omce a week, dd loves the homemade salmon fishcakes

Judy1234 · 09/05/2007 16:51

Ours are free in with the school fees but they get a choice of hot meal including kosher/veg too and if they are not full after that they have fruit. If they are still hungry after that they can have extra bread. No one is allowed a packed lunch or to bring anything except fruit or veg into school for break.

firestorm · 09/05/2007 17:05

I used to work in a school kitchen, & to be honest portion sizes were pitiful, (especially for infants) & fruit option was a small slice of fruit, not an entire apple or orange as you would assume. The problem is that most of these school dinners services are run by outside agencies who are out to make a profit. The children are not their prioritity at all.
Also the amount of wastage was unbelieveable parents at that particular school were chucking their money in the bin (literally) Far better to give a packed lunch & know what theyre eating.

bozza · 09/05/2007 17:09

At our school the salad bar is an extra. DS has cucumber every day. So he will have spag bol and cucumber one day, fishfingers, mash, brocolli and cucumber the next etc.

Clary · 10/05/2007 09:14

bozza lol mine are cucumber fiends too.

firestorm fwiw a portion of fruit for a small child is a handful, so not a whole apple or orange. However I agree a slice is not enough.

FiveFingeredFiend · 10/05/2007 09:18

If you can you should lobby the school to change it's culture. My daughter regularly comes home and proclaims " I hate Jamie Oliver!"

Its not about providing a choice so much as it is promoting a lifestyle!

TinyGang · 10/05/2007 09:33

What they seem to be offering is their own school packed lunch.

Mine go in with a packed lunch, but they have a dinner in the evening.

A packed lunch is a lighter meal and not a main one. I thought a school dinner was more substantial - a main meal, so you didn't have to have another one later. That's the whole point of them surely?

Yes I think I would say something - it's not helping you to pay for a main meal and then have to do another one later.

When the weather is nice, those with packed lunches at dc's school are allowed to eat out picnic style. Obviously those who have a school dinner miss out on this treat and the school asked us the other day if they would like the option of a more sandwichy lunch so they can join the others.

It's a great idea, and the choice is still there to have the proper dinner if required; that option is still there.

portonovo · 10/05/2007 11:20

I don't think the 'packed lunch' style is a problem in itself, but the choices and menu planning don't sound appealing.

At our school, the salad and bread are definitely extras, not alternatives.

I do think a cold meal can be filling and healthy, and I agree that in the summer children want to be outside - our school also lets children eat packed lunches on the field.

Our secondary school does a 'meal in a bag' - a sort of packed lunch put together from a list of options like sandwiches, baguettes, wraps, pizza slices, fresh fruit salad, cookies etc. This allows children to have the school meal but still eat outside with their friends. These have to be ordered and paid for first thing in the morning then collected at lunchtime, but at a primary school I would guess it would only work if parents/children ordered them the day or even week before.

Original poster

haggisaggis · 10/05/2007 11:35

OK - checked with ds. Bread and salad is extra - but fruit is an alternative to teh pudding.
I did complain to teh company that does the lunches - and the reply I got said :
"The inclusion of the additional sandwich options were to offer schools greater flexibility to encourage ?al fresco? dining when the weather conditions were favourable."

How - unless meteorology is on teh primary curriculum - does this encourage "al Fresco" dining when teh cildren choose their meals on Monday for that whole week?

What I would like them to do - and will suggest - is that they offer a portion of fruit and another carb. with teh sandwich - perhaps a portion of rice salad, pasta salad or couscous.

THink I'll also have a chat with the head teacher and see if anyone else has complained!

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