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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 Dinners???

51 replies

wolfnipplechips · 19/05/2009 08:48

Ok so just a quick one, my dd starts primary in September and her meals are included so can anyone tell me what they do about dinners at home surely they don't have 2 dinners a day(MIL says she should).

I would be thinking more soup and sandwich am i right. I have no doubt she would eat to dinners if allowed.

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seeker · 19/05/2009 08:50

Surely it depends on how hungry they are!

BonsoirAnna · 19/05/2009 08:51

Does your school put the week's menu up? My DD's school posts the menu on the noticeboard and on the website at the end of the week for the following week so that we know what the children are going to be given at school and can menu plan in order to avoid children eating two similar meals in a day - and also provide for days when they hate what the school offers and are likely to be extra hungry in the evening.

ScummyMummy · 19/05/2009 08:51

Que? I don't understand!

BonsoirAnna · 19/05/2009 08:52

Also - DD's school does a menu plan with similar main food each day of the week (veal on Monday, burger on Tuesday, beef on Wednesday, cheese on Thursday, fish on Friday) so that we avoid doubling up.

Original poster

wolfnipplechips · 19/05/2009 08:54

Thanks for replying.
Anna the menu is put up, the meals are pretty substantial with puddings i don't really think she should be eating 2 big meals a day, she would but surely there has to be some calorie control.
MIL is of the feed them till they explode camp.

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Original poster

wolfnipplechips · 19/05/2009 08:55

My OP should have said 2 dinners not to.

OP posts:

Original poster

wolfnipplechips · 19/05/2009 08:55

My OP should have said 2 dinners not to.

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ScummyMummy · 19/05/2009 08:56

Oh right- you mean don't want her to have more than one main meal a day! Won't she just eat whatever you're having in the evenings? I wouldn't worry too much about calorie control when she's 5, tbh.

seeker · 19/05/2009 08:58

They need tons of calories at this age. School meals aren't particularly big usually. So I would wait and see. I am prepared to bet she'll want another meal in the evening - it's a long time from 12.30 to 7.00!

Original poster

wolfnipplechips · 19/05/2009 09:55

Damn it, i was hoping to get away without the millions of dinners i already have to make I guess i'll just have to wait and see. Thanks for all your help.

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lizziemun · 19/05/2009 10:06

DD1 started school this year. She has school dinners, which they have at 11.45am and only have a small snack at 2ish and i find most days she is starving come 5pm when i do her dinner.

You have to remember school dinners are smaller portions to what you would probaly do and others have said she probaly doesn't eat it all.

PestoMonster · 19/05/2009 10:16

Mine are older now, but they have always had a hot school dinner at lunchtime. They have a snack when they get in from school and then have a simple cold tea usually. Things like sandwiches, wraps, boiled eggs, baked beans on toast etc etc.

DH & I then get to eat meals during the week that the DDs probably wouldn't eat. We save family meals for the weekends and eat together.

sandyballs · 19/05/2009 10:19

We do the same as Pesto. I don't think kids need two big cooked meals a day. A snacky meal in the evening is fine.

bigTillyMint · 19/05/2009 10:23

Mine had school dinners and a cooked meal at home every night. They are not overweight at all!

TBH, the school dinner portions are very small and they often don't like some of the food, so don't eat it all anyway. Mine have just switched to packed lunches (round of sandwiches, 2 pieces of fruit and a yog tube) and seem less hungry at the end of school now !

JodieO · 19/05/2009 10:25

It's lunch at school and not a huge dinner. My children have a school lunch and then a proper home cooked meal at home, often a sandwich or other snack before bed too. Any less and they would be starving. They're skinny children too.

I don't look at it as 2 dinners a day. I've never understood people that only give a sandwich or snack after school, mine would be so hungry all night. They do so many activities and running about at school that they need the food.

Dd is 7, ds1 is 5 and ds2 is 2, ds2 isn't at school yet though obviously. I'm trying to get ds1 to fatten up a bit actually as he really is quite skinny even though he eats a fair amount. Dd is also skinny but she eats like a horse.

ruddynorah · 19/05/2009 10:35

she probably won't much anyway, too busy chatting or wanting to go and play or whatever. just see how it goes for the first few weeks.

Original poster

wolfnipplechips · 19/05/2009 10:45

Pesto, thats pretty much what i would have imagined. When dd is at preschool which is only 1 day a week she has a hot meal then in the evening she has maybe some pizza and salad or beans on toast, fruit and a yoghurt.
It seems to do her but then if i gave her a hot meal she would eat that, she doesn't seem to have a full button but she never asks for food and sleeps well so i guess she's doing fine. I suppose all the extra activity will make her hungrier will have to wait and see.

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CherryChoc · 19/05/2009 11:01

I always ate school dinners and then had a hot meal in the evening, we used to eat our evening meal at about 7ish, just have a snack when we got home from school. Neither me or my sister (although she had sandwiches) are overweight (in fact I'm underweight at the moment) and I never felt it was too much. I actually think you get more in the average lunchbox than the average school dinner.

(I left school in 2004 so not too long ago!)

Seona1973 · 19/05/2009 12:43

even if dd has a hot meal at school she gets a proper dinner at home. Her school has a main meal and a snack option so sometimes she is just having a toastie or something light at lunch - she never seems to take the pudding on offer but sometimes has a biscuit. Her friends and her are all in a rush to get lunch finished so they can get out and play so they may not always eat everything on offer.

Original poster

wolfnipplechips · 19/05/2009 12:52

So does anybody actually monitor what the kids are eating at school?Eeeekkk

Its a small school and the eat in two sittings so say max eating probably about 35. Do people usually encourage them or are they left to it.

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geekgirl · 19/05/2009 12:56

I do hot dinners most nights, but generally keep it to a small portion, e.g. fish fingers and veg but no chips, fruit for anyone who is still hungry afterwards. I find it easier to get them to eat veg when it's cooked so sandwiches only feature once a week.

Litchick · 19/05/2009 13:03

Oh Lord, mine have school dinners ( including seconds) and a huge meal at tea time. They also eat a big brekkie and two snacks and supper. Can't fill 'em up.
They are as skinny as rakes.
Honestly, if they have their lunch at 12noon, they willbe starving again by 4pm.

Hulababy · 19/05/2009 19:41

DD's school dinners are included too. She loves them and always has the hot option, plus a dessert.

She will often have something warm again at night, simply as then I don't have to cook more than one meal. She'll have the same as me and DH. If she is going out I will make her a sandwich and salad, some pasta, whatever really.

DD is always hungry enough to eat another meal again, lol!

TheFallenMadonna · 19/05/2009 19:42

Mine have snacky food in the evening too. Soup, beans on toast, toasted cheese, something like that.

bigchris · 19/05/2009 19:42

but you can encourage family eating by sending them in with a packed lunch and eating a hot meal altogther.
I dont get how you lot can afford to pay for school dinners and do a hot meal at night as well. It defeats the object of school dinners surely?

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