What do we think of this?

[lou33]

Debate please...

Don't they realise that school meals are the only opportunity for some children to get a hot meal??

I wonder what those who qualify for free school meals will do now. It costs to send a packed lunch and they may not be able to afford it.

Agree with you btw Coppertop.

I'm not sure I agree - wasn't there something about the quality of school meals being lower than the quality of prison meals? I would think if a child currently qualifies for a free school dinner, they should be given some restitution - extra benefit money???

Not all families would use that extra money to buy a decent packed lunch.

They are pretty revolting oth I agree Lisa, but better than nothing, which is a possibility for those on low incomes.

otw I meant not oth (can't spell today).

Changes in rules for extra benefits would take a while too.

I'd be gutted if my sons' school stopped serving school meals. My partner and I are lazy in the evenings and grumpy in the mornings and school dinners has been one of the best things about our boys trasition into school, frankly!

Transition, I meant.

Lol!

Oh, what I think of this is great, let's give overworked demoralised heads in the state system yet another huge headache they don't need and let's deprive a lot of kids of their lunch. Because, quite frankly, there are plenty of kids who just won't eat (or eat decently although that's arguable given the crap lunches in some places) lunch in this situation. I just don't understand how a county council can just say 'Nah, we won't/can't be arsed to feed kids at lunchtime', I really don't. But nothing in the education system surprises me atm.

Perfectly put !

And what about all the poor cooks and dinner ladies who are going to lose their jobs with no pay-off while the council and the contractors argue? Just shows who loses out when services are 'contracted out' i.e. privatised: low-paid workers who are largely women. And the kids who won't be able to learn properly if they aren't fed. But presumably county council couldn't care less about their welfare or academic and social development.

Oh eddm, I reckon who loses out when services are contracted out/privatised is usually the end consumer, i.e. in this case the kids, in the case of the trains the passengers, in the case of the utility companies the users, ooh, I could go on and on but it's another thread really...And all the county council care about is their budget, obviously. Tossers. Oh, and I do know it was a rhetorical question, just felt like a moan

I have a friend who is a teacher here in NZ and he has told me that some of the kids in his school come to school without having had breakfast and haven't been sent with a lunch either. That means they have one meal a day in the evening, which will be a sandwich or fish and chips if they are lucky. I'm shocked that this is a situation Essex would choose to be in. Sure school meals might be crap, but at least they are a meal.

It's very wrong to stop school meals in my opinion. Children as young as 4 years old are at school for 7 hours a day. That's commonly accepted by society. Is Essex council suggesting children don't go to school if their parents cannot or will not provide a packed lunch?

Given the 7 hour day, schools have a duty to provide children with food, unless parents provide a packed lunch. Body and soul, the child is in the care of the school by virtue of being there.

Legally the school is in 'loco parentis' ie has parental responsibility for the kids while they are there. Can you imagine what would happen to parents who didn't feed their children? So why is it OK for councils to deny children food?
WWW, I meant both low-paid mostly female workers and kids ? maybe should have put a comma in after 'and'. But I do think privatisation usually hits workers most acutely as however bad the trains are, they don't throw passengers into poverty IYSWIM. Mind you, thinking about my £923/month train ticket they come close... have worked out I need to earn £15,000 a year (after tax) just to cover nursery and commute. And there aren't any jobs I could do closer to home ? I live in a commuter town.

eddm, I wasn't disagreeing with you! I agree. I was also thinking of train services to rural areas being cut because they aren't profitable etc, that kind of thing. Blimey, £15k AFTER TAX? I know our breakeven for 2 kids is £14k but that's before tax. I regularly use Iresign.com's financial tools to work out how poor we are! But we're going off topic so I'll stop. I wonder if anyone's going to legally challenge Essex County Council? I hope so.

love the URL for your link!

I live in Essex, so this affects both my children. Ds' school looked into buying in hot meals from a contractor or providing a packed lunch service (pre-order sandwiches the week before). The hot meals are awful from a nutritional POV and would work out more expensive. The school has decided to offer the "packed lunch" option, which consists of a choice of freshly prepared pre-packed sandwiches or a pasta salad, fresh fruit and a cake. Those who qualify for free meals will get this option.

My children's schools certainly haven't taken a "can't be arsed" attitude btw. And as I said below, those who qualify for free meals will still be provided for. I take the point about it being the only opportunity for some children to get a hot meal, but personally I would prefer my kids to have a healthy cold meal than hot nutritionally invalid slop!

Spacemonkey, I wasn't suggesting that individual schools couldn't be arsed, just that the county council couldn't.

And my view is that schools should be providing HEALTHY hot or cold meals at lunch time rather than the choice being between a "healthy cold meal than hot nutritionally invalid slop"

I agree www, they should!