Rude school dinner lady, what would you do?

[Urbanvoltaire]

DD is in year 5 & has school dinners every day £1.75

She has complained about them every now & then re. running out of her chosen dish, lukewarm veg etc ( 1 meat & 1 vegetarian choice offered).

Yesterday she said that when she asked if there were any sausages left the dinner lady aggressively said there were none left & there was only noodles & mushrooms left. So she took the noodles only to find that the next class into the canteen came away with sausages.....

Said dinner lady is v rude at the times I've seen her (PTA coffee events etc). She also hides portions of food under her serving spoon, says they're for staff.

So, do I

leave it tell DD to be more proactive with her
Mention to Head
Write to LEA
Write to catering company

Several other parents have voiced their opinions to me about this & I'm not alone in my opinion.

Thanks in advance.

Talk to the head, she probably doesn't realise what's happening but she should sort it out.

I am going out on a limb here by suggesting that they only cook so many sauseages for each class, and by the time that your DD got her lunch then those allocated for her class had gone.

Round here they do as five said and cook so many per class.

How do you know she said it agressively? Were you there?

You might like to suggest to the school the system they have at ours. At registration the children choose whether they want the meat or vegetarian option this is recorded by the teacher who gives out a coloured wrist band according to what they have chosen as they are going to lunch. The kids then hand the wrist band to the dinner lady at the canteen and are given the meal they have ordered. That way all the children get the meal of their choice and can't change their mind between ordering and going to lunch.

Perhaps mention to Head. Sounds like she may need a word about her people skills!

I want to know how big her serving spoon is if she can hide portions of food under it!

I wasn't there however I've spoken to said dinner lady in the past & she was v rude. (asked her politely for some milk for a PTA event, was growled at!) Having spoken to other kids they have the same opinion. I've told DD to be more proactive & to stand her ground. She hides eg portions of lasagne, what's that all about. I'll leave it until the next incident & decide whether to tell the Head. Thanks for your opinions.

And yes I believe my DD if she's spoken to aggressively then that's what happened.

Sorry but I couldn't help snorting at her hiding food under her spoon!

In DS1's school they have two options plus a vegetarian choice as well as filled jacket potatoes or sandwiches, but as others have said there are so many portions allocated for each class rather than the whole school.

How are dinners ordered?

I work in an infant school. We have three school dinner options - meat, vegetarian or Halal. During registration in the morning the children order their option with the teacher, who then marks down the right code against each name.

As the children come into the school hall the children having a veggie option are given a V card and those having Halal a H card. The rest have meat.

In our case there should be no running out, and no limits on how many children per class can have their given choice.

I would speak to school and see what is happening regarding meal orders, and put in a complaint against the member of staff if you feel they are being unreasonable and/or rude.

I'd agree that its a complaint about the system rather than about the person to the headteacher, and if possible rope in other mums who feel its not fair to do the same.
Plus the usual conversations with your daughter on how to handle rude people. Is year 5 too young to teach "did you mean to be so rude?"

Thanks for your replies. On offer is 3 main courses (1 red meat, 1 chicken or fish, & I vegetarian), plus rice, potatos, vegetables. No advance orders at registration, just devidecwhen you are about to be served. It's a 3 week rotating menu system. I'll speak to the Head about the system & keep it non personal. Plus I've said to DD she can be more assertive when dealing with tricky individuals ;) thanks Fens!