No lunch at school

[TowerTower]

Do some parents not feed their kids at school? My son says a lot of the kids keep asking him to buy them food and some he has said hes never seen them getting lunch ever and you might say oh maybe they are not hungry but these are the same kids that are asking him to get them food so they obviously are hungry. Is this common in secondary schools for parents to not provide their child with a lunch? I am by no means rich but surely feeding your child is a priority?

I used to buy 10 cigarettes with my lunch money but never asked others to buy be lunch tho

This has been around since I was a kid. Why use the money mum gave you when you can use someone else's money?

My friend works in a primary school in a deprived area. She takes crisps, biscuits, cereal bars etc to work with her because many children go to school without lunch or money on their accounts to buy lunch. She hands out the food to the children, knowing it’s not exactly healthy food, but it will be at least something for them to eat

It’s paid for online cash is not accepted these days, the parents need to top up an online account

If it is a poverty thing, there are FSM vouchers at secondary and it will apply to anyone in a universal credit family from September I think.

My year 7 is meant to make his own packed lunch in the morning. Maybe these kids are just too lazy and don’t do it and then just beg other kids?

Then pay for one? There was a thread on here a little while ago claiming no secondary kids take packed lunches to school as it’s the height of embarrassment (not my words) apparently so maybe thats why they aren’t doing it

In DS school, many of them take a packed lunch. Because they want to eat quickly and not queue and then play football/cricket/go to physics club etc. Plus the food in the canteen is expensive and not always good.

I do think school canteens are busy and unpleasant places. If the kids aren’t taking their own lunch and it could be their parents aren’t remembering to top up their accounts so they just wait and eat when they get home. Not ideal but I do think it’s common.

Could the parents be sending sandwiches? And the kids are refusing to bring their pack lunch out so they just don’t eat?

It is a huge issue at my son’s high school. Literally one boy in my son’s year eats a packed lunch (he is autistic). Everyone buys a school lunch or goes to the high street for food. I know there are kids who are sent with a packed lunch, but won’t eat it due to being embarrassed so they just don’t eat lunch.

A teacher I know does this too.

Not everyone would be in a position to pay for one. Food in the fridge might be all they can afford, unfortunately. It might also be for health reasons. There's no way my parents would have paid for me to eat the stuff they served in school. I work in a school that has a 'healthy cafeteria'. It's anything but! Yeah, they have fruit on offer but that's about it and no one buys it. Most kids opt for cheesy pasta.

Nonsense. Parents should feed their children.

Its going to be hard to know the real reason but you could raise it with the pastoral lead/head of year
They could have money for the week on their account which has been spent by Tuesday break time
No money on the account at all
Have packed lunch so parents say dont need dinner money but they prefer school dinners
Its really hard to know

But they are obviously hungry as they wouldn’t be asking my son for food if they weren’t so if your kids are embarrassed by it you should be paying for the meals. As I said I am by no means rich but I prioritise topping up my son’s account it’s a necessity not a luxury.

Maybe they haven’t told their parents they’re embarrassed about it? Maybe they’re provided with food at home to take to school but they’re just not bothering? No, they shouldn’t be asking your child for money/food. The only aspect of this that you can really control is his response to that. Otherwise, all you can do is report it as a safeguarding risk.

But that's your personal views on school meals.
Dd would just waste money on snacks and drinks which she could take from home for cheaper.
We have a set budget for school meals and the dc learn to spend within that or take a packed lunch.
Its a good learning point that you can't spend willy nilly for 3 days then expect someone to bail you out for the other 2

What rubbish. It’s not a necessity if they DO have food they could be taking from home and choose not to. There was no way I would have ever given mine funding to buy lunch at school every day, simply because the food was not the healthiest, AND it was doubtful that they would have made healthy choices. Mine were funded for lunch one day a week, and then I didn’t care if they chose crap or healthier options. The rest of the week we had food from home they could take, and was up to them to do so.

Yes the parents not paying for their kids lunches are doing it for health reasons 🙄

So you’re saying that providing food at home for them to take to school isn’t good enough?

You must know as a parent if they are not taking it? No it isn’t good enough, especially when they are begging other children.

I never ate lunch at school. My parents only gave me enough money for a snack and you weren't allowed to buy just a snack. She'd send me with a sandwich but it was always cheap wafer thin ham (1 slice) which I hated, so it went in the bin. I told her all this but it didn't change things.

But you don't know they aren't taking it and have it in their bag (or say they have made a lunch to take but actually havent been bothered to) but are asking your son to buy something more desirable.
Either isnt right and they shouldn't ask your son but I think people are trying to explain its not necessarily a neglect/they are never fed issue

But that’s on the kid.

Thats sad 😔

I would contact the school and advise of the situation. I wouldn’t be happy if my son was constantly being asked to buy other kids food. The school have a duty to check that children’s needs are being met and in fact whether the kids are being fed.