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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 much do you give your dcs for lunch at secondary?

28 replies

roisin · 01/07/2008 16:39

I was planning to give ds1 £2 each day, which I know is on the stingy side. But it is plenty to buy a main meal and a dessert. If he wants to drink something other than water, he will have to go without dessert or use some of his own money.

He says his mates are all getting at least £3 each.

Hmm

OP posts:

colditz · 01/07/2008 16:41

Well, a primary school dinner can be £2.30 so I imagine a secondary one can be even dearer. If you know he is getting enough money to feed himself then stick to what you are doing but I would check the menu prices - they are variable and can be really quite steep.

juuule · 01/07/2008 16:41

Same as you £2

MrsWeasley · 01/07/2008 16:46

At DD's secondary school it is about £2-£2.50 for a meal and a little desert (ie tomorrow's will be:slice of roast meat, roast potato, bit of veg and a pud which might be Angle delight, yog, fruit or a hot one)
Water is available but if they want a carton or bottle it would be and extra 50p -£1

PestoMonster · 01/07/2008 16:48

I'm glad you brought this up. I was thinking of giving dd1 £2.00 a day, based on the prices she's seen in new school's cafeteria.

I think it will be plenty for a hot lunch and she always drinks water anyway.

Remotew · 01/07/2008 16:50

DD only asks for £1.60 a day.

Original poster

roisin · 01/07/2008 16:56

Great! Please keep going

for inf. the primary meals here are £1.70

His main meal today was £1.30. He said it was delicious and he had a big plateful.

I do want to stick to my guns because I want him to learn to think carefully about his meals, not just grab whatever and think
"I've got plenty of money".

For instance at some schools chips are very expensive (and only available a couple of times a week). But veg, fruit, toast, pasta and 'proper meals' are relatively cheap.

OP posts:

lilolilmanchester · 01/07/2008 17:01

£2 here, enough for a decent maincourse and a dessert at DS's school. He started off with £1.50 (4 years ago) but we put it up as it was only just covering a proper main course. I agree re not encouraging them to spend on expensive drinks. £3 seems a lot to me, but I guess that depends on what that particular school is charging for the meals.

christywhisty · 01/07/2008 21:22

I pay for DS's lunch in advance. We have the option of signing him up for the meal of the day or a free choice card. This works out at £2 a day, but we usually end up getting money back at the end of term.

ByTheSea · 01/07/2008 21:25

I vary it a bit - It might be £2 a day, or a tenner for a week, or sometimes a fiver which I tell him to make last 3 days and then I top it up with some change on the third day. Really depends what I have handy.

bluefox · 01/07/2008 21:39

£2 per day here. DD and friends buy lunch from the local shopping centre.

Loshad · 01/07/2008 21:50

£2.50 here, put onto a smart card so he tends to budget over a week. This doesn't allow for enough money for a drink, but water is free.

nametaken · 01/07/2008 23:06

roisin if you find your local authorities website which deals with free school meals you can see how much money is allowed for children who receive free school meals and then use this figure as a benchmark for yourself.

That's what I've done. In my area there is a cashless dining system and the free school meals children are allocated £1.80 per day to allow for a main course and a pudding (free water is readily available). So my reasoning is if it's enough for them, it's enough for my dcs.

I also want my dcs to learn about the value of money at secondary school and if they moan it's not enough, I shall be telling them straight,

1 - it's what the free school meals children get
2 - drink water instead of spending food money on drinks
3 - take a roll (made by yourselves of course) to school for mid-morning break.

scanner · 01/07/2008 23:16

A good friend gives her dd £2 per day and she is allowed to keep any left over by the end of the week. She's a girl who likes her food, so she won't skip meals and it's really helped her learn to budget and prioritise.

Tinker · 01/07/2008 23:17

I'm told it's £2.50

Tortington · 01/07/2008 23:19

£2 - if they spend it atlunchtime ..and in school i will eat my arse

unknownrebelbang · 01/07/2008 23:19

DS1 usually takes a packed lunch, but he's quite faddy.

Not sure what DS2 will do when he starts in September, but would be looking at £2ish. If he needs any more then I think he'll be having a packed lunch too.

(primary school cost is currently £1.70 here too).

Tinker · 01/07/2008 23:19

Not allowed out of school during lunch at new school.

unknownrebelbang · 01/07/2008 23:20

Ours aren't either Tinker - but several spend theirs at the corner shop on the way in...

pointydog · 01/07/2008 23:22

between £2 and £2.50 I think. Money is put on a card.

pointydog · 01/07/2008 23:23

New rule at our school this year - first years cannot go down the town.

Tinker · 01/07/2008 23:25

Hmm. No shops en route. I'm sure they'll work something out...

robinpud · 01/07/2008 23:27

Dd bought enormous baguette for £1.30 and apple for 30p today. She took her own drink of water and with encouragement returned some change to me today after her induction day. I think £10 a week is a lot. THere's no way I spend that on mine or dh's lunches. We can limit the amount on the cash card and place restrictions on the things they are alowed to buy. ie no quinoa or fruit shoots.
I think it is worth pointing out to ds that money spent on lunches is money not spent on other things..

Loshad · 02/07/2008 11:01

Mine definately spend it at all school, on lunch, not allowed out of school during day, no shops nearby and I send in cheques monthly to go on a cashless card system. Was really surprised (and pleased) to be caught by the catering manager in the corridor who thought he should tell me what ds2 had had for lunch that week (all just crap, and no main courses - quite easy to do as canteen very busy and you can just say "oh bought a main course earlier from another till" etc) and I was able to have a chat to ds2 reminding him that he wouldn't be able to concentrate in the afternoon if he didn't have a proper lunch.

chopchopbusybusy · 02/07/2008 11:16

£2 a day. I don't think this is stingy. I've seen the price list and it is enough. I sometimes even get change at the end of the week. I usually return it to her for her honesty though!

scaryteacher · 02/07/2008 11:24

My ds nominally gets ?20 per week as the school canteen is pricy, but he only uses it when there is something on for main meal (chicken and chips) that he wants to eat, as he doesn't get chips at home very often. The rest of the time I make him a packed lunch. This week for instance, it's a packed lunch every day as he doesn't like what's on the menu.

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