Free school lunches for infants - what do you think?

[KateSMumsnet]

Starting this month, in accordance with plans announced last year, all pupils in English primary schools up to the end of Year 2 will be eligible to receive free school meals.

How do you feel about the changes? Is it money well-spent, or could the funds be put to better, more targeted use? Has your school had to make any changes such as building new rooms or using classrooms? Are you glad to have lunches taken care of, or would you prefer to make your child's lunch? Have you seen the new menus, and are you happy with them? Will any of you be opting out?

We'd love to hear what you think - do let us know below. And keep your eyes peeled for a guest post on the nutritional value of school meals, coming later this week.

p.s For those of you still making a pack-up every morning, try out this recipe for the perfect lunch box bars (you can still make them even if your DC are at Uni, we won't tell)

Parents who say ' s/he wouldn't eat that' drive me nuts - if you don't give them the chance, how will they ever?

Well my child won't eat over cooked floating in water tasteless veg and nor do I intend on trying to get them to do so. Don't care of that drives you nuts. My kids like veg that is veg in its current not previous life.

A kid sent with a choc spread sandwich,milkshake,crisps and kit Kat will go home to a choc spread sandwich,milkshake,crisps and Kit Kat you do realise that.

Exactly Giles. DS is 'fussy' with his food in as much as he likes things well cooked and not over processed. Personally that is a kind of fussiness I am quite happy to 'pander' too and we have had great fun planning things for his lunch box that I know he will eat

Yes sirzy

I feel very fortunate that my children eat as well as they do. Can't get enough fruit and veg and like it steamed so it still has crunch.

I don't see children submitting to eating tasteless mush or processed rubbish or over cooked food that's sat around for ages on a daily basis as an achievement tbh.

chocolate spread sandwich, milkshake, kit-kat and bag of crisps, anyone? All left sitting on a trolley for 4 hours with no icepack in the lunch box.

So because some parents are unable to feed their child a balanced diet non should be trusted too? Should children be sent home with their breakfast and evening meal too incase parents make a 'bad' choice?

I can guarantee non of those things will feature in DS lunchbox next week, and he will have an icepack in there. Having read the school dinners on offer I can say with certainty that the packed lunches will lead to a much more BALANCED diet for him than the school dinners would

Selfishly I am overjoyed as DS will be in Y1 next week and I will NOT miss making his packed lunches. He is a fussy bugger and I love the fact that he will be eating communally with all his friends and therefore will be much more likely to experiment and eat whatever's put in front of him without complaining the way he does when I cook it. His school does great meals and I have no worries at all about what he'll be fed.

I am loathe to champion the way things are done in Scandanavian countries purely for the sake of it but I believe that universal free meals are common on the continent and I think that education these days is about so much more than just what goes on in the classroom. I don't necessarily believe that it is solely a parents' responsibility to feed their children; why is it not also the responsibility of the state to provide for them? There is evidence to show that eating a decent meal at lunchtime has a positive impact on attainment, but then so do many other things.

This said I am a state sector teacher and I am also on the other side of the economic squeeze in education. There are a million and one ways that this money could be spent; I'll be really interested to see the research that - I assume - will be conducted on the attainment of reception and KS1 students over the next couple of years to see whether it's had a positive impact.

To be honest the kind of folk who don't care what their kids eat are unlikely to be on here are they

We all have likes and dislikes, and some schools are better than others, and it's exactly the attitude of "well my child only eats the best etc etc" that drives that social wedges in schools

My child only eats the best, I entrust in the school to provide a warm, healthy lunch each day, if I didn't think it was that she wouldn't have it, but it's up to is as parents to speak up to those under performing schools and get behind improving it, not bitching about it on the internet

My dd had homemade 7 veg cottage pie for lunch and homemade crab and cherry tomato linguine for dinner, but if she happens to have a carb laden meal once in a while, or heaven forbid pudding and custard I won't keel over in fright, it won't kill her

As I said, our school hives parents a voice but only because they want one, and the food is very multi cultural, wholesome and good, better than two white sliced, a fruit twister and some raisins dressing itself up as the healthy option

No a carb laden meal once in a while won't kill her.Every school day under the guise of a healthy meal won't be that great though.

That said if you wanted to do it every day out of your own purse all power to you I however resent taxes paying for it particularly for people who don't need it.

But I'm paying taxes for it, for my own

We lost CB, of course I would rather have that back, and I will by paying for it later on, but it is free so that's that

Not all higher rate tax payers are living in a mansion sipping champagne

Seagulls, I have tried the food, I have friends who work at the school who eat it daily, they aren't Wayne and waynetta slob - it is healthy food or she wouldn't be having it

For those schools who don't cool stuff on the pre nests and have it brought in just how much improvement do you think there could be . By the time we you have narrowed down the list to ones that you can afford, ones that cover the area, ones which follow the criteria for the client base (ie a primary school not secondary or business premises etc) and one which can cater for the numbers, just how many do you think. There are to choose from and what good would a campaign do?

The meals at dd's school are poor, don't trust the menu either. What the children are actually served compared to the menu are often miles apart. If your school serves great meals it's okay but so many do not. I feel so sorry for pupils in the schools serving crap where this has been made compulsory.

Well with that attitude there you go, no wonder it's sub standard

Yes because companies can be manufactured out of thin air can't they

One already went bankrupt at ffs school. One couldn't cater for the numbers. They are on at least the 3rd/4th one already.

Ffs?

Dds school

Dd1 tried them but will be sticking with packed lunches. Partly because she eats very slowly and would rather go without than eat something she doesn't like. At least with a packed lunch I can put in nutritionally dense food and monitor what is eaten.
My other concern is the standard and variety of the hot meals. It seemed to be carrots almost everyday. Lots of pasta and tomato based sauces. She had almost permanent diahorrea.
I worry that now it is free the meals with be lower quality.

But that's the thing, ours isn't a tendered out contract, it's an actual employee with a structured team beneath her - the old fashioned way, a head cook and team

It doesn't need to be tendered out to a factory mass producer

Some of us are paying for it but not receiving it.

That I can live with if it was the people who really needed it getting it.There are an awful,lot of kids in KS2 and 3 going hungry,unable to afford school blazers and all sorts of other things that will impact on their education.

It annoys the hell out of me that money which could be spent on such kids is going on food for kids who don't need it and isn't that great anyway.

It's ludicrous.

Well aren't you the lucky one.You do know so easy schools have their food brought in right, that there's not some lovely old dear and her team lovingly preparing food on the premesis. Some have to make do with companies that serve the several schools and secondary schools and deliver by van in big foil Covered trays where it sits in the serving station til lunch time

Do know some

As far as I'm concerned whilst at school all children are in the educational arena

That doesn't stop at break or lunchtime, the whole day is a part of it, and that includes social interaction at lunch, the environment and the food

Not all the good is great in all the schools, but it should be the best it can be

That's not all down to the teachers, but the head and management team have a responsibility to deal with that

So if all children are in that educational arena, there should be no differentiators on wealth or who should get food for free, all children should get all their food for free whilst there if they wish to take it up

I'm a higher rate tax payer and I would be happier to pay for this than many other hairbrained schemes and benefits this governments chooses to fund. Even when my children are grown and no longer taking it up, it's such an important part of the day and much is to be learnt from it

merrymouse it probably costs the same same to build a new kitchen whether you're cooking healthy or unhealthy food.

Yes I do know that chainsaw, I'm not an imbecile, I did say we were lucky, but I can only work with what I have and whilst you are saying all school meals are crap and all parents who use them must be too (creating yet more social exclusion), I'm saying no not all school meals are crap - freedom of speech and all that

My dd2 had pasta, cheese & beans followed by a biscuit.

Tomorrow she'll be having quiche, new potatoes, sponge pudding & custard; pasta & garlic bread then chocolate muffins on Thursday; & on Friday, fish fingers (alleged vegetarian option - doubt she'll eat them), oven chips, lemon drizzle cake & custard.

I'm not going to give her tea anymore...I think I'll just throw fruit & veg at her & run....can't have her getting scurvy...

The food's utterly unsuitable, lousy quality & we don't need FSM. I've told dh we'll give it three weeks, simply because I think the best way to convince him that I could put together a more nutritious meal from our compost heap is to let him hear dd2 recount her menus every day.

My DS2 has food intolences and an allergy so he's packed lunch.

He had to have a packed lunch today. There were 4 other children from infants with him. Thankfully they let them have a picnic outside together.

My DS1 will have a school dinner every so often but he is not too impressed.

Looking at the menu you could have a very carb heavy week/month/term depending on the options you pick.

I bet we have a lot of constipated children by Christmas.