Free school meals

[Motherof3feminists]

My dd gets free school meals and the school has meals provided by Taylor Shaw. They are given £2.10 a day but most options seem to cost £1.90 leaving not enough for a drink or a piece of fruit. The slices of pizza are tiny and she often comes home "starving" as that's all she's had. The provision doesn't seem to be great for veggies and she says there's often not much left.

I am waiting for the school to get back to me but I wondered if this was how things are at secondary school? At primary (same company) they got a decent sized meal, and at least one pudding of not two! (Apparently this has been stopped now and I'm glad as she was having 3 pudding a day as I didn't know she was getting 2 at school!)

Maybe parents are supposed to subsidise meals once at secondary school?

I pay for my eldest dd school meals , she takes tap water and an apple or similiar with her. So I think the £2.10 is adequate.

She takes a big bottle of water and a snack but she's not getting enough at lunch. She eats a good breakfast too. She's built like a whippet and eats like a horse!

Is it £2.10 a day that you give your dc? What can they get for that?

I dont think she needs a drink. She can take water, but a bit of fruit and a main should be covered. My son says the pizza slices arent a whole meal at his school they are about £1 and you are meant to buy chips / salad as a sepeate dish. He finds the meals more filling than at primary. But its a different company

Ours is £2.30 a day and the ‘meal of the day’ which includes either the pudding or a piece of fruit is £2.30. If you have something that is not ‘meal of the day’ then it may not be an actual meal if you see what I mean. So a slice of pizza might cost the same but it’s not a meal.

Here is the menu from my county.

www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/media/1737073/school-meals-secondary.pdf

Our meals are 1.90 and the pudfings 75p

I give my 14 year old £10 a week on her finger, so £2 a day. Like your dd’s school meals are around £1.90 she takes fruit water and then usually a cereal bar for mid morning. She refuses to eat breakfast.

Thinking about it I can see your point though, as free school meals should be substantial as some children ( not necessarily your dd) may not have a full meal at home due to finances.

Usually the cost of the meal includes a side.

It might be worth asking if she's buying a snack at break as that would probably take her credit to less than a full meal for lunch, leaving her with no option but to have a pizza slice on its own instead of as part of a meal.

It might not be thr case with your DC, buy you'd be amazed how many students opt to spend their credit on bacon rolls and flapjack at break and then have half a lunch at lunchtime.

My DD's didn't get a drink with primary school lunches either, they took bottled tap water, and something for a snack.

I've not heard her mention a meal of the day so I'll ask about that. As far as I know she doesn't buy anything at break as they are only allowed to use their credit at lunchtime. She has been known to buy a slush and popcorn but that was in the first weeks when it was a novelty 🙄 No mention of sides apart from chips which are awful she says. She might not be fully understanding the system so hopefully once school get back to me we will know what's what. I've told her to get fresh water at lunch but she'd sometimes like an option of something else.

You might fund a menu of the school website but the one on the boys school doesnt have prices

Is your menu not on the council's website?

How about if she has one of these in her school bag if she finds water boring.
Much cheaper than individual drinks.

There's no sample menu unfortunately. She says there's different things available across the 2 canteens but she won't go in one of them because it smells She says there's only chicken curry on a Monday which I don't believe for one minute. When she first started there we were shown a same menu and it looked great so I'm not sure what's happening apart from she's definitely not getting enough to eat at school. That might be partly because she's refusing to eat what's on offer and partly because there's only a limited choice for the money she has on her account. She's not very fussy at all but only seems to eat pizza.
On days she has clubs at lunch I have to send in a packed lunch as there's not enough time for her to get anything before the clubs start. It seems like the ones on free school meals are missing out on clubs and food.

Most local authorities publish the menu on their website. The Taylor Shaw ones are meals, it's very clear. Perhaps your daughter is playing you a little?

My dd gets her sandwich at break time if she has a lunchtime club and then eats it at lunchtime.

I’d investigate it further with the school if I were you. H

My dd ate jacket spud and beans every day for 5 years. It will be interesting to see what the school say

It took her a while to figure out where everything is in the canteen and she kept saying the things I'd been told were available weren't there. Until she looked properly 🙄 I suspect she's playing me to some extent.

Dd2 eats jacket potato and cheese at school Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and has done for years. Wednesday is Quorn roast and Friday is chips and beans. She's the fussy one. Dd1 is a dream in comparison and will try everything. I suspect she just wants Nutella sandwiches from home every day!

There are supposed to be salads, wraps, rolls, and jacket potatoes, along with the main menu so I've no idea what's going on as she swears there aren't those things.

At my old school there was a large canteen that had the whole range of foods. The smaller canteen was called the snack bar and served pizza, hotdogs and chips. Could this be the set up and she's missing out by not going in the smelly canteen?

It does seem like she is trying to con you into giving her more. Won't go into one canteen because it smells? That is probably where affordable meals are!!

Taylor Shaw does the meals at the school I work at. The meal costs £2.05 a day. That’s a main and a pudding. Not a drink.
She’s playing you. She needs to stop buying the pizza!

I'd bet my bottom dollar she's missing out on the main canteen (and the range of choice) as the one that smells and is using the one that's meant to be quick footfall as it serves the fast food stuff. Although that wouldn't cover chicken curry. There's definitely be something else on offer as chicken curry no good for the veggie kids!

School meals aren't often great, there's a day a fortnight here where all the main meals are pasta so it's that or a spud/sandwich but everyone still eats. Puddings are almost always fruit or yoghurt as well, very rare you'll see anything cakey on offer which is why the fundraising cake sales do well!

There are supposed to be salads, wraps, rolls, and jacket potatoes, along with the main menu so I've no idea what's going on as she swears there aren't those things
Often there will be a hot and cold counter.
Typically FSM will cover a sandwich and fruit/brownie or a main meal from the hit counter

I won't typically cover students opting for one element of the main meal (e.g. a pizza slice) and then a snack to go with it.

Not specifically FSM related but when we've had parents wanting to know about spending because they feel their child is burning money, we can print off their account spending for home. You could ask for that OP.

They also provide drinks in the form of water fountains (with cups) so if you want something other than water you (rightly) have to pay for it, £2.10 wouldn't buy you much more than a drink and a bag of crisps in the outside world so to get unlimited water, a spud and cheese AND a bit of fruit is still pretty good value.

My ds put on weight in year 7. I discovered he was having a bacon buttie every break time. Also eating the free breakfast at school that is offered.
Now, goes to school bit later which he prefers and just has breakfast at home rather than double breakfast [!] and has a pack lunch with a small snack from home for break. Year nine and his tummy is beginning to deflate...[possibly stretching as well as getting tall!].

A friend of mine rang the school complaining her child had got through 50 pounds too quick and the school must have made a mistake. They hadn't- he had just eaten a lot...