Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Primary education

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

Flip

1 2

Original poster

school dinners?

30 replies

paddingtonbear1 · 09/05/2007 10:19

Dd will start reception this September. She will be just over 4. I'm not sure yet whether to give her a packed lunch or go for school meals. They're not too bad, but dd would choose her own and there's not much supervision - I have visions of her choosing chips every day! Also, she can't use a knife properly yet. What are your experiences? Which did you go for?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

hockeypuck · 09/05/2007 10:23

My dd started reception 3 days after her 4th birthday. I decided to give her a packed lunch because I wanted to be sure what she was eating. The supervision isn't great at school dinners and she is a fussy eater so at least with a packed lunch I know what she is eating. (The supervisors make them put anything they dont eat back in their lunchbox and also encourage them to have their sandwiches before their yoghurts!)

Have you spoken to the school about your concerns about school dinners?

RubberDuck · 09/05/2007 10:24

My ds1 is in Y1 now (they didn't have the option in reception - is a new thing in our school) and has school dinners on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. He's quite a faddy eater, so was curious as to how it would go, but it does seem to have helped him be slightly less faddy.

They only get chips on offer once a fortnight at our school (think with the new regulations no school is allowed to offer chips every days these days?) and usually have 2 options to choose from. He does tend to have baked potato, cheese and beans on an alarmingly regular basis (it's the other option on curry and lasagne days, neither of which he'll even try) but at least that's a fairly healthy choice We still have a hot meal together in the evenings so I'm not too worried.

Why not have a chat to the school and see what the meal options are and how the system works? And maybe if you can do packed lunch some days and school dinners on the others as a trial to start with?

LilyLoo · 09/05/2007 10:30

My ds in reception now started on lunches. He then asked to go on dinners so we started two days a week then he went full time on dinners after oct hols. Chips are only on the menu once a week and there are two options. The school send home a four weekly menu and it is very good. He absolutely loves his dinners and i knoe he eats them as he never snacks when he gets home. I found it hard keeping the packed lunches varied and interesting enough 5 days a week and he soon became bored. As for the knife thing i wouldn't worry she will soon get the hang of it when watching others.

Original poster

paddingtonbear1 · 09/05/2007 10:35

I'm going in to the school again in June or July, so I think I'll have a chat to them then. Good point, I bet they really only get chips once a week - I could have got the wrong impression! Actually dd prefers pasta so she would love the lasagne!
That's a good idea though, maybe if I know what's on the menu I can pick a couple of days when she can have school dinner, and the rest packed lunch, and see how that goes. She currently goes to nursery and seems ok with the food there.

OP posts:

NKF · 09/05/2007 10:35

I've done every combination you can think of but eventually I lost patience. Now it's school meals every day and I put my fingers in my ears if they ask for anything else.

Original poster

paddingtonbear1 · 09/05/2007 10:37

That's a good point as well Lilyloo - my packed lunches would no doubt get a bit boring.. can just see dd saying 'not ham sandwich and yoghurt again mum'!!

OP posts:

nogoes · 09/05/2007 10:40

Have a look on your lea website. In our area the school dinners are fab, they only get chips once a week and all the meals are cooked on the premises based on Jamie Oliver and Jeannette Orrey recipes.

Bucketsofdynomite · 09/05/2007 10:42

How much are school dinners on average? I'd like my fussy DD to have them, think it might actually help her try new things if she thinks it's her idea.

Original poster

paddingtonbear1 · 09/05/2007 11:14

Our school dinners would be 2 pounds a day. Not sure if that's average or not!

OP posts:

MellowMa · 09/05/2007 11:16

Message withdrawn

PestoMonster · 09/05/2007 11:20

My dds both have school dinners and they cost £1.65 a day each. I am very pleased with them because they have been introduced to a whole assortment of things that I wouldn't necessarily make for them myself. I wouldn't have believed that they would like chicken korma now, but they do!! Another point is, at our school the dinners are well-supervised and they are encouraged to have a balance of things (such as veg/salad with their main course) and are expected to have a try of things. For us, school dinners have worked very well and I don't have to worry about cooking again in the evening.

LilyLoo · 09/05/2007 11:51

think ours are 1.65 not really sure as i pay monthly. They are usually well supervised esp for reception class, i don't think you need to de concerned about that tbh. My ds sits with children from older year groups who tend to help them as well.

franca70 · 09/05/2007 11:54

ds has school dinners everyday. They have a very well balanced menu, and try to use fresh and local products (or at least they claim they do!). Also ds isn't a sandwich person and likes hot food. And at least they are all having more or less the same thing, no packed lunch envy!.

MrsWho · 09/05/2007 13:53

My school is £1.65 each day.dds school doesn't offerthem but dd1 will be having them at the juniors as she is a PIA with packed lunches so she can try and eat something else!

brimfull · 09/05/2007 14:00

Does anyone know if children with nut allergies are allowed school dinners.I can't see why not myself but just wondered,ds starts reception in sept and I would like for him to eventually have school dinners.

MrsWho · 09/05/2007 14:16

They should provide them, its discrimiination not to

wheresmysuntan · 09/05/2007 16:20

I wish we had the option but unfortunately the LEA got rid of hot lunhes in all the primaries years ago and there is now no school kitchen because the space has been used for IT. Apparantly post Jamie Oliver the LEA is desperate to re-introduce hot meals but the only option so far is to look at pre-cooked re-heatable meals.

RubberDuck · 09/05/2007 16:47

wheresmysuntan: our school doesn't have a kitchen either - a local high school ships them over in heat retaining boxes (and they have x amount of time to serve them by) - so don't give up hope

NomDePlume · 09/05/2007 16:48

our school has no kitchen either, it seems to be the norm for primaries in our LEA.

RubberDuck · 09/05/2007 16:49

NdP - does your primary ship them in from Nunnery Wood High?

wheresmysuntan · 09/05/2007 16:50

Thanks Rubberduck. I love the sound of them having ''x amount of time to serve them in'' as this conjures up images of some sort of 'It's a Knockout' style race

RubberDuck · 09/05/2007 16:51

Bet the dinner ladies must feel like that some days

Ds1 has just returned home today and said that he had a roast dinner followed by orange jelly for pudding. I had a limp marmite sandwich for my lunch - I think he got the better deal

wheresmysuntan · 09/05/2007 16:53

Agreed Rubberduck - mind you , I am very partial to marmite.

geekgrrl · 09/05/2007 16:54

wheresmysuntan, our school has frozen reheatable meals and they're actually very nice and good quality. We had a tasting session and I was really impressed. They cost 1.62 each.

Before that they had food cooked elsewhere and shipped over in warming vats - man, that was gross. Nothing like soggy broccoli that has been sitting in a vat for an hour .

SaintGeorge · 09/05/2007 16:59

Our serving staff always try to encourage the kids to have a healthy balanced meal.

The reception classes have extra supervision (3 staff to approx 30 kids) rather than just the staff on duty in the dining hall. We try to persuade them to have extra stuff from the salad bar, are always at hand to help with cutting up stuff and generally don't let them get away with one bite of dessert and nothing else.

Out kitchen is totally nut free (unless you count the staff ) although we still keep a list of all the kids with allergies as a precaution.

Flip

1 2