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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

How do you manage school dinner money at secondary?

90 replies

Taswama · 14/06/2019 23:02

DS is in Y7 and it’s still a bit hit and miss, some days he’ll have 3 cakes, other days he’ll have a proper meal.
I’ve said no drinks as a waste of money (and empty calories).
He takes a packed lunch some days but then buys something in the canteen instead.
How do other people manage it?

OP posts:

Original poster

Taswama · 18/06/2019 16:41

That seems sensible happy. I rarely buy drinks out of the house myself so I don’t see the need for my DC to have a daily Coke /Sprite / smoothie at £1 each.

OP posts:

sugarbum · 18/06/2019 16:51

DS1 is Y7 and I just load up his card with credit when I remember. He generally spends about £2.50 a day (so a tenner a week)

I can put a cap on it, but after observing what he buys each day for the last school year (pizza, pasta or a baguette, plus a 'treat' like a cookie or cake, and lately ice pops, with the occasional bottle of pop) I have never capped it because he is quite good about not buying too much.

He does take in extra food though because he struggles to last until lunchtime which is about 1.30pm. He leaves the house at 7.30am and so I make him a mini lunch for breaktime. ie a sandwich, some fruit and a bag of popcorn. Its kind of like he's having two lunches, but he says he's 'starving' otherwise, and he is a huge 12 year old (5 ft 8, big framed) and I'd rather send him with food than have him spend more in the shop.

sugarbum · 18/06/2019 16:52

Oh and he also takes two bottles of tap water with him. HIs backpack weights a ton but he doesnt seem to mind.

nonicknameseemsavailable · 18/06/2019 21:11

it sounds like drinks are often the big drain on the money from what friends have told me and people posting on here. I couldn't last until 1:30 Sugarbum! don't blame him for needing 2 lunches.

namechangedforthis1980 · 18/06/2019 21:18

Yr 10 here. DS used to take packed lunch unless it was PE/ ASC day ( as he can't fit lunch and his jumbo trainers in his backpack ). So he'd have school lunch 2/3 times a week

We've gradually changed it to school lunch every day. It's what most of his friends do and I can't keep up with which days he wants sandwiches so often there's nothing he'd like in the fridge!

He spends £2.50-£3 a day - normally on bagels or pizza

Hahaha26 · 18/06/2019 21:26

We set a budget of £40 month, with packed lunch offered every day.

Dd has never used her £40 in school canteen and instead saves the money.

Ds spends his very quickly and then over to packed lunches, nothing saved.

Thought this approach would encourage ds not to spend the money quickly and on rubbish food, but 4 years in and it has made no difference

PandaG · 18/06/2019 21:34

Cash at our school. We gave both DC an allowance at the beginning of the month, and made sure we had plenty of options at home for making packed lunches. School meals had to come out of allowance. DS had school meals maybe 3 or 4 times a year, if that - he was happy to make a packed lunch and save. He is the same now at university, takes a pack up into the department rather than buying lunch. DD bought a lunch at school perhaps once a fortnight, now she is upper school and we live < 10 mins from school she often comes home and cooks pasta or similar, and regularly brings half a dozen friends with her!

Blankscreen · 19/06/2019 06:37

£20 a week here.

The school canteen is a rip off. It's been outsourced and is basically a money making exercise for the external company.

Apparently taking packed lunch is embarrassing

bollocksitshappenedagain · 19/06/2019 06:51

My y7 dd has school dinners twice a week. Only spends about £3 a day as she will still take her break snack from home.

She's doesn't buy drinks. She has one 'treat' thing a week.

Charles11 · 19/06/2019 07:46

My ds has packed lunch except on Fridays, normally, when he buys something from the canteen.
I also discourage buying drinks and he takes a bottle of water in every day.

Topseyt · 19/06/2019 08:12

I put £30 a month on DD3's canteen account. Anything else she has to put on there herself from her wages (has a part time job).

I don't bother monitoring what she eats. Absolutely not worth it, and she is a healthy -ish eater much of the time anyway.

BurnedToast · 19/06/2019 08:26

How old is she, Topseyt ?

Surely it's your responsibility to feed your child? It's not as though lunch is a luxury so I can't see why it should be paid for out her part time job.

namechangedforthis1980 · 20/06/2019 12:00

I agree @BurnedToast , unless her DD has the option of taking a packed lunch from home? My DS is pretty lazy when it comes to stuff like this. If the choice is between making sandwiches or just spending money in the canteen I know which one he'd choose!

bamboowarrior · 21/06/2019 12:42

DC prefer packed lunches, but I keep accounts topped up for a couple of treats a week - I wish they would have a school lunch or two but they aren't impressed with a) queues b) food !!!

ifonly4 · 21/06/2019 14:38

Sorry, but if he's not making healthy choices, then I'd be giving him a packed lunch everyday - maybe the compromise would be four days packed lunch, one day meal in school hoping he's making the right choice. Also, he needs to understand that food can't be wasted, so if he's gone in with a packed lunch that's what he has to eat.

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