Free school meals for all infant children

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What do you think? I think it's a great idea.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24132416

Blantant unsusutainable election bribe which the incoming govy will have the task of axing.

I think it's possible one of the most ridiculous ideas the even more ridiculous ConDems have come up with. NHS budgets being cut, bedroom tax, benefit system over hauled - NO WAY should free non means tested school meals be a priority at this time to the tune of £600 million! Bonkers utterly bonkers!

Btw - my dc are now juniors and I pulled them from school dinners last year having sampled the utter crap quality of the meals provided by Birmingham City Council. Healthy school dinners? Pah

I may have missed it, but has anyone questioned what will happen to the pupil premium currently paid out to schools for every pupil eligible for FSM? In my area, all schools ask parents to claim for FSM if they think theymaybeentitled to them, even if they have no intention of using them as the school gets a premium payment for each child on the roll who is eligible.

Will there be a change in how that entitlement is worked out, so perhaps parents will need to provide proof of income/benefits to obtain this premium? Or will it be scrapped altogether? How much will that cost schools in more deprived areas? Will their budgets be increased to reflect this loss or will it createmore of a clear divide between schools in more affluent areas and those in more deprived areas? The knock on effect of a loss of income for those schools has the potential to be much more far reaching and damaging than the benefit of a few more kids getting a hot meal at lunch has the potential to improve lives.

Yes watching - we'll miss out by a long way as my DC now at secondary, but DNeice has just started in reception so I'm thinking of her.
My DC have enjoyed school dinners (only think DS tells me about is what was for pudding!!) and have done well with two healthy hot(ish) meals a day throughout primary.
I think there can be a problem if people think growing children only need one good meal a day. (Several posters saying that their family eat a good meal together in the evening)
Personally I think a good meal at lunch is no bad thing as well!

Too many thinks there - and some in the wrong place!

juggling
Agree - I love it when my dds come home and say they have had lasagne or shepherd's pie or something similar, especially on cold winters days.

My two have also tried more stuff at school. They have a band system now so they get to choose at the start of the day then are guaranteed they will get their choice of meal.

So when is this going to start ?

I think September 2014

"At the moment free school meals are available to all children whose parents are on benefits or earn less than £16,190 a year."

They must have changed the criteria as last time I checked you had to be earning less than £16190 and not be getting working tax credit. It means people with a higher income than mine can get them just because they work fewer ours or don't earn their income.

Yes but ASWELL is t always a given is it, I mean with my dds it's either/or

Dd1 picked at her school lunches filled up on bread and eggs and a massive pudding. It was enough to fill her up too much to eat anything remotely enough in the evening for me to make the difference up.

Dd2 seems to be the same way. They need a light lunch and a proper dinner (hot or cold)

Not a shitty school meal that leaves them able (after eating the bread and pudding) to only eat a couple of crackers and an apple for tea.

Thanks I was watching that

Well I think it's a ridiculous waste of money

And surely if they want to "put money back into the pockets" of parents who are feeling the pinch, why not just increase benefits so that they can have the money to use themselves. It's very nany state and discriminates against those who are home-educating who are more likely to be on a single (and therefore lower) income. Or do home-educated children not matter?

We are the type of family this is aimed at - eldest due to start reception next year but I don't agree with this at all. I would much rather have a flexible system of being able to choose on the day if you are having a school meal or taking a packed lunch and for the price to be lower for the meals. We are not well off but could afford to pay for meals if they were of the standard provided at nursery and would much rather the money went to those who really needed the help, particularly those working just over the fsm limit.

When I just started reading this thread I thought well at least it will be one less job to do each day if dd1 has a school meal, how bad can they be? I went on the website to check and actually do think they look pretty bad. Could anyone take a look and see how it compares with your area please? link All the schools listed have the same menu.

It appears to be possible to have some form of pizza, burger or sausage every day with bread and pudding. Wow. I'm not a great chef but try not to serve salty processed meat or let the dc fill up with bread, freezer food and puddings (too often). The school we want to apply for has a two week notice period for giving up school meals and switching to packed lunches so it really would be all or nothing.

Namechanged as this might out me - here in Southwark (deprived London borough) we already have free school meals for all children (last year was to Yr4 I think, this year all primary school children). From what I remember when looking at schools it was usual not to allow packed lunches for the years that received free school meals. The 'normal' allergies (peanuts for example) seem well understood and catered for. Our school has a kitchen and operates what appears on paper to be a reasonable menu - on my to do list for this term is to pop in at lunch time to see for myself!
I am pleased about this more for the 'social cohesion' aspect than the nutrition or the cost - I have a healthy scepticism about the nutrition but think it is good for children to be introduced to a wide variety of food and to see others enjoying food that they may be initially doubtful of. Similarly to wearing school uniform I think the more children have in common at school the better. also saves my sanity needing to buy lunchboxes everytime DC lose theirs or want a different one

What a waste of money. We have four children - the middle two will qualify for the school meals, we can't afford school dinners for elder DD so she'll have a pack-up and I'll still cook a full evening meal for her, pre-school DC, myself and DH. Ridiculous that I'd cook for 4 members of our family, but have two who would have had their main meal of the day already and prob not want much more than a piece of toast, and then we'd have arguments about who got what. Much better for the whole family to eat our main evening meal together as happens at the moment.
Spend the money on something more worthwhile please.

My DS2 has multiple allergies and carries an epipen for his milk allergy. Tbh it took us a while to find ways to make meals which were not just endless rounds of pasta and chips, but which accounted for his allergies. He also needs a high fat diet because he is very underweight and this in combination with his allergies (which include almost all traditionally 'healthy' high fat foods) mean I would not trust the school to provide a meal each day which was nutritionally adequate for him.

As others have said, schools should get on with the job of educating and leave the nutritional decisions to people who have knowledge and training in nutrition.

Its clear from this thread that the standards of primary school food is variable. DD's school has excellent food and they have never run out. The children pick what they want in the morning and are given a coloured wristband. The meals are then cooked to order.

Ds's secondary school has a caferia system and its awful because the children who are last often have nothing but rice or bread with a few manky carrots. I also find it shocking that a secondary school child can get away with buying nothing but chips. Hence ds has a packed lunch.

I think that the standard of catering should be assessed for schools which have more than 200 children as part of OFSTED.

I taught in one school where the caterers also provided a packed lunch style lunch alongside the hot food. They were delicious. Choices of baguettes, mini quiches, vegetables and humous. Maybe that could be an option.

I do think that the lunch hour should be made a bit longer and teachers should sit and eat with the children. It's part of their education- using a knife and fork, trying new things, chatting with friends. Some children do not get this at home and food is such a good way to bring people together. However, the food would have to be good quality.

There must be huge potential for new catering businesses if it all happens. Hmm.....

nice idea, but... baguettes? no, ds2 can't have them (gluten)
mini quiches? no, ds2 can't have them (milk + gluten)
humous? no, not that either (pulses)

He would be left with vegetables - but, he needs a high fat diet. A few veggies is not going to give him sufficient calories.

If he would have to take in a packed lunch whilst all the other children around him eat school provided (and paid for) food, he's going to feel even more isolated because of his allergies. Where would the education about the 'healthiness' of eating together come from for children like him who would be excluded from this social experiment due to what basically amounts to a disability which he has no control over.

NewBlueShoes - your school sounds wonderful but not the reality for most of us unfortunately and I think we can guarantee the quality is not going to be good in school; it's going to be the cheapest.

We eat organic wherever possible and that is certainly not ever going to happen.

As someone upthread said, leave the education to the schools and the nutrition needs to the parents please.

Hmm isn't Gove friendly with the Dimbleby restaurant chain bloke who was advising him.Wonder who will get all the new catering contracts.

"As someone upthread said, leave the education to the schools and the nutrition needs to the parents please."

However there is strong evidence that some parents are either lazy or as thick as pig shit when it comes to putting together a healthy packed lunch. Pilots where schools have had free school dinners for all children have improved behaviour and attainment dramatically.

No one is banning packed lunches, but feckless parents will take the lazy option and use school dinners. It takes work to make a decent packed lunch.