How many of you pay for school dinners?

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DS started Key stage 2 in September, and as you are aware free school meals are no longer available for them once they get into KS2.
Our school dinners are £2.44 a day which includes a pudding, they can choose a hot meal or sandwich bar/salad bar jacket potato option also.
Since DS has started I've paid for his lunches so far working out at £12.20 a week, which I don't think is bad at all and well worth the money.

I'm aware if you didn't have the spare money then parents would just do a packed lunch, but I'm grateful and lucky to have a household income where we are able to spend this on school dinners weekly.

It just got me thinking I wonder how many people actually pay for school dinners for their DC once they are no longer free?

Do the majority now do packed lunches?

I don't mean the post to come across rude or judgmental at all, I am aware every one's circumstances are different and £12.20 a week may not be worthwhile or do able for some households.

My child has just gone into P6 (year 5 in England) and we now have to pay. The menu isn’t great but we’re trying to do two hot lunches a week (partially because their younger sibling gets the same and it means that evening I can just do beans on toast or whatever) . It’s £2.30 a meal.

I pay £2.70 a day for DD. I think she eats a better meal from school than I would be able to make her for a packed lunch. She seems to have a choice of things and is less picky than she is at home. She eats things like roast beef, pasta, pizza, curry, jacket potato, spag bol. Plus desserts too. I think that is pretty good value. Especially as I don't then have to make it or clean up a lunch box every day.

We always did. I couldn't do a packed lunch for less and it saved me the time as well as providing a decent balanced meal. Secondary school was also good and more choice, all for the same cost. I suppose e were fortunate that both schools had good catering.
DS is at college now. Excellent on site catering facilities. More expensive than school but still heavily subsidised.

Erm no, I'm saying the opposite actually...
I can easily afford this hence why I'm still paying as he likes them so I am able to continue
However others may not have that opportunity.

We elected to do packed lunches rather than the free meals before they stopped being free for my kids. The nutritional quality of the meals served in their school decreased over the period they attended, the quantity also decreased to the point where it was wholly inadequate.

My kids make their own lunches - everyone in the family sorts their own school/work day lunch.

I do because I can't be arsed making packed lunches. We had to for a few months for nursery during covid and it was so tedious.

There's the occasional day they are on a school trip so get one or maybe the last day of term as a treat. But mostly it's a job I am more than happy to throw money at.

£2.53 a day
Yes I pay for them
I'm school holidays when she goes to holiday club and I make packed lunch for her I'm sure out would work out more expensive overall. She has a good appetite and has two sandwiches in a packed lunch along with other things.
School dinners I know she's having something cooked which I like.
So I do think it's worth it

DC1 and DC2 wanted packed lunches (I hate making packed lunches). I paid for DC3 until around Y5 when he said that they didn't taste good!

I’m envious of those whose kids go to schools with decent quality food. Most of the time my children couldn’t even identify the meat being served. They’re not fussy at all and will eat anything at home… Thai, sushi, Mexican, Indian, Italian, basically whatever we serve… but they drew the line at school dinners.

A school dinner is £2.65 here. My child likes it . As for me, it's much easier and actually, I think it's a cheaper option than the packed lunch.

Our kids prefer to have school dinners. Pleased I don't need to faff around making school packed lunches everyday.

We do max 3 school dinners a week, otherwise Packups, mainly due to the cost. £3.30 per meal here in primary! And closer to £4 in secondary.

DD's lunches are £2.70 a day which seems steep for what it is. We check the menu for the week every Sunday and she'll select one or two days where she fancies the school dinner. I'm pretty sure putting a packed lunch together on the other days costs less (I'd estimate around £1.80) and is definitely more nutritious and has enough wholegrain/protein to keep her fuelled for the afternoon.

I don’t make pack ups so it’s either school dinners or make your own. Both mine usually have school dinners. £1.50 for primary child and secondary rarely spends more than £10 a week. I split the cost with her dad so less than £10 a week for dinners for two

I did , all the way up to y6. She's a fussy little git and bar a day or two when she'd have jacket potato, she actually ate a decent meal , compared to jam sandwiches (cheese at a push) if we were to do packed lunches. It also helped with her trying some new things and discovering she likes them, even if just at school.

Now at secondary and she mostly has packed lunches because she doesn't like most of the available options and I don't want her to have cheesy pasta every day and pay nearly £3 for it.

Fussy little git.

I pay as I cba to make a puzzled lunch daily

And tbh would Prob cost same /more each week to get variety

Think it's £2.68 a day. I top up monthly with £50/60

I work lunchtimes in a school. I'd say that around 60-70% of ks2 children have packed lunches. I'd happily pay for them but my kids prefer a packed lunch.

I was shocked when i went into school and the descriptions id read on the school dinner menu (which sounded like nice wholesome decent meals) bore little resemblance to what was actually served, which was largely chips and chicken nuggets. Stuff would get described as 'wedge potatoes, spicy coated chicken fillet and vegetables' - it was one crap chicken goujon, frozen chips in a wedge shape, and the veg was a couple of spoons of sweetcorn. Not what i had envisaged.

No

She is saying she understands that some families don't have a spare £50 a month for school lunches

I make sure there is always money in DD’s account just in case she wants to get a school meal. Now that she is in upper secondary she also has ala carte options. She almost never takes advantage of it because she prefers a packed meal.

Yes I do. The kids reject most of the meals I make at home and at least I know they’re being exposed to loads of different meals at school, without me wasting time making stuff to be rejected at home. Plus that frees me up to do packed lunches for dinner twice a week around clubs etc so works nicely.
I do dread to think about the quality but if they eat it that’s all that matters tbh, they live off bread, pasta and cereal-based things at home so at least they get some semblance of a roast at school on a Wednesday for example. Yeah yeah, I should make more effort at home with meals, but not in this season of life.

I have one kid in KS2 and one in KS1 so I now pay for the older one to have school dinners unless it's the two or three days (on a rotation of three weeks) that they really dislike. £2.50 a day here and always five options (seven if you count beans or cheese rather than beans and cheese on the jacket potato!)

Ours are nice. We gazed some at a parents evening

Have good variety

Mac cheese
Pizza
Roast dinner
Fishy Friday
Sausage mash
Curry

Lentil pizza which sounds rank is apparently very yummy

I've just checked and it's £2.75 in our school.

My dc tried them in reception but hated them so we have been doing packed lunches even when free.

I did. The quality and variety was good in our school. My children didn't always eat it though, and they also said the portions were small.