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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

School meals Vs packed lunch!?

19 replies

Kirsty240287 · 01/07/2012 16:55

My 4 yr old has been in nursery for a year but only for 2.5hrs a day, she's due to start full time reception in Sep 2012, and she's such a fussy eater (my fault most prob) i don't know what to do for the best, if i send her with a packed lunch at least i can put in what I know she'll eat but I'm pretty sure I'll qualify for free school meals, which currently work out at nearly £40 a month! But I dare say I'll have phone calls from the school saying there's been a tantrum or tears because she's refused to eat anything they've given her, on the other hand if she sees others eating I'm hoping she'll be more inclined to try the dinners and grow out of being so god damn fussy!!

Also how does the free meal thing work, my school seems a bit slow with things, they only have 3 wks left before summer hols and I don't have a clue where to take DD in Sep and they haven't explained if they'll start full time straight away or just mornings etc first. All I know from the school prospectus is that the child has to had their dinner money in everyday that's all very well if the 4 yr old hasn't lost it first! so what happens if your on free meals? I'm by no means a snob but I really don't want DD to have the stigma of having free meals while the other kids have to pay.

Sorry for the rant, think being pregnant has turned me into a stress head!!

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AbigailS · 01/07/2012 17:06

No one will know other than the office staff if your child has free school meals and she won't be the only one by a long way. As far as the other concerns, why not ring or email the school office and explain that as you are pregnant you are trying to get everything organised now, then ask all the logistical questions.
But if it was me with a fussy eater I would be giving a packed lunch at the start of the year. School dinners that the child doesn't like = stress all round and a hungry child; not a good start to full time school. You can change and test out school dinners for a while after your child has settled.

SystemofaDowny · 01/07/2012 17:15

I don't know if it's the very persuasive dinner ladies or some kind of peer pressure, but my DC have eaten (and enjoyed) loads of different food for school dinners that they would have refused to at home.

The way it works at their school re dinner money is every child has a small canister with their name on. You put the money in each morning (or week)then put the canister in the plastic box for their class. So if you get free meals, you just put the canister in empty.

At the beginning of the year you have to fill in a form and take evidence that you are entitled to free school meal. The school likes you to do this even if your child won't be having the meals as the get extra money from the government I think.

ClaireBunting · 01/07/2012 17:19

Mine have always had school lunches. I think they are better than packed lunches in terms of variety, and are often healthier.

If your DD is a picky eater, she may respond well to the encouragement of the dinner ladies to eat up. It will be a normal part of the school lunch experience and she won't have you around to act up to.

NettoSuperstar · 01/07/2012 17:19

DD has free meals, and always has, no ones ever said anything to her about it.
She's not fussy, but I bet the peer pressure would help your DD to try more.
You may as well give it a go, since they will be free, you can always go to packed lunch if it really doesn't work out.

ClaireBunting · 01/07/2012 17:21

When my kids were at state school, we paid for lunches online. The office staff kept track and the children did not have some kind of complex cash-handing-in process.

EdithWeston · 01/07/2012 17:21

I go for school meals because it means one fewer thing to do in the mornings. As you expect to have a new baby, your mornings will be complicated enough and minimising what needs to be done could be valuable to you.

An email to the school should answer you various other logistic questions.

simpson · 01/07/2012 17:22

DS gets free school meals too and no one has said anything.

He is pretty fussy with his food but always finds something he likes for his school meal, they seem quite varied.

DD starts school in sept and she will be having free school meals too although I need to check that they can cater for her food intolerances first.

Bunbaker · 01/07/2012 17:24

I tried DD on school meals at first, but ended up sending in packed lunches when the teacher told me that she wasn't eating anything. The dinner ladies didn't have time to encourage the children to eat and the children weren't given enough time to eat their lunches either. It was a small school so they had to stagger lunches. I think they only got 15 - 20 minutes to eat and DD is a slow eater.

OddBoots · 01/07/2012 17:25

The school will be very keen for her to have her free meals as they get extra funding for it so do have a quiet chat with them about your concerns.

ChitChatFlyingby · 01/07/2012 17:26

School meals make mornings so much easier! And my fussy DS2 has a greater variety of meals - might as well get some benefits out of peer pressure.

cupcake78 · 01/07/2012 17:33

Ds will be having school meals. He's fussy but manages to eat something's at nursery. Also honestly I can't be doing with the packed lunch thing everyday either.

cacm · 01/07/2012 17:39

In my school the children eligable are given the same dinner tickets as the other children so that no one knows and if you have a fussy child you will tend to only give them things that you know they will eat they will try more stuff if they see other kids eating them so I would give her school lunches.

piprabbit · 01/07/2012 17:40

I think it's time for you to phone the school.
By now I would have expected them to have invited you and your DD to some sort of introductory session as well as giving you information of school dinners, free milk etc. Perhaps they have 'mislaid' your contact details.

NettoSuperstar · 01/07/2012 17:59

DD's school offer a good variety of meals, she has baked potato and tuna most days.
It's daft really, as we are really adventurous eaters, and she's not at all fussy, but sticks with that at school.
I really don't mind, they are free and to give her a widely varied packed lunch would cost me so much more I'm sure.
I did let her have it for a half term a couple of years back, but she starting asking for all the branded stuff her friends had, and moaning about it, so I put a stop to it.

wheredidiputit · 01/07/2012 18:01

Speak to your school they should be able to let you know what happening.

As for school meals dd1 has them and as done since day 1 and she was a fussy eater. But at her school reception children eat their dinners in the classroom (until the second half of the summer term when they go into the dinning hall). This is so they can monitor their eating as well as encouraging them to eat.

NoComet · 01/07/2012 18:10

What ever you decide, please apply for free school meals.
I believe it's the number of children eligible for free school meals not whether they actually take them that matters.

The senior school head is always asking people to apply

It's a very crude measure of children the school may need extra money for, but the schools need it.

Original poster

Kirsty240287 · 01/07/2012 20:16

Thanks for your comments, I think I will try her on dinners in the hope she will try more things! I had honestly forgotten about having baby brain, a newborn and packed lunch's to deal with! Guess we can always switch to packed lunch if she's not eating anything at all.

I'll also try and corner one of the teachers this week and try to get some info on what's happening in Sep, wont hold my breath tho, they often send letters home asking for the kids to wear a certain colour/dress up/make something with at most a days notice

OP posts:

GateGipsy · 01/07/2012 20:22

school dinners worked well when he was in Reception and Year 1, where there's more time spent with the children, and more helpers. This year in Year 2 he just eats as little as possible so he can go out to play. I've gone to packed lunches for that reason.

My son is a hugely fussy eater too, but having children around him always helped him eat things he wouldn't try at home, so I do miss this. I would rather he had school dinners but as he's not made to eat, and therefore doesn't, it is pointless.

But please do put in your application for free school dinners. Your school's funding is based on a formula, a large part of which is how many children have free school dinners.

Download the form (or get it from school) and return to your school's office anytime you want to.

local.direct.gov.uk/LDGRedirect/index.jsp?LGSL=4&LGIL=0

RueDeWakening · 01/07/2012 22:02

DD is a fussy beggar, but has been on FSM since she started in September. People who pay use ParentPay so no child takes money into school for lunches, this definitely helps.

All the reception starters are offered 2 free lunches to try school dinners in their first week (our LEA fund this I think). You could have knocked me down with a feather when she announced that she'd chosen noodles (actually it was chow mein) for her dinner the first day, "because I like noodles, don't I mummy, so I knew it would taste nice". There is no way on earth she'd have gone near that choice at home!

Also, our school gives out the term's menu at the start of term, it's also available on the school (or possibly council) website for parents to check. And kids have the choice of only having school meals on Wednesdays (roast dinner) and Fridays (sausage/fishfinger/burger & chips day), with packed lunch the rest of the time, your LEA might offer similar.

Finally, if you get FSM you also qualify for free milk every day, if she'll drink it. DD gets this mid-morning along with the free fruit all kids gets, though I think some offer it in the afternoon instead.

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