school melas at mainstream

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Hi all, I have joined on here a while back but never posted, and i was wondering if anyone can help me with few answers that im facing at the moment.
My little girl is 5,has severe learning difficulties, cannot walk, talk and she also has feeding issues, can only eat mashed food,
She started mainstream a year ago, and doing really well, slowly.
My problem is school lunches....I have started cooking for her since the day she started, mash everything and send the food in her lunch box, her 1:1 feed it to her... I recently requested if it be easier if she eats their school lunches, to save me all the hassle, also the food is fresher, they have said it be no problem if I pay for them as we are not on the benefits they requested...I have been asking the school and the LEA if they can be funded, since its a medical issue, but they said NO, i also asked if maybe at a reduced price, she only eats small portions...I said that if I could sent her with sandwiches and fruit like other normal children I would, but she have difficulties chewing and swallowing and she could choke.

I was wondering if anyone had the same problem, as I really want to take this matter further.
Thank you

I really dont think you could take the matter further to be honest. People on certain benefits have the option of free school meals and if not we pay £2.10 a day for the meal. The only issue is that your child needs food mashed up and either a child would do that theirselves or an adult would help out (like you or the TA).

I understand its due to medical reasons that she cant eat things whole and not a lot of it but the school cook for the whole school count per head and so there is no decrease price in portion size iyswim.

thanks coff33pot...where we are its £2.35...my daughter dietician was shocked when I told her that i sent my own mashy food, she said she should be entiltled, so again maybe she might have a word...who knows?

I hope she does for you :)

I think you just have to pay the standard school dinner rate unless you are entitled to free school meals (which from what you say,you are not). My DD is at Special Needs school and only ate enough to feed a fly. We had to pay the going rate - but school had to liquidise the food for her - no extra charge for doing that as that would have been discrimination. It pained me when she went into seniors (same school) and the cost of dinners went up - she was probably eating less than the nursery children - but we just had to grin and bare it. (She's tube fed now so no longer an issue).
Sorry but I would be surprised if you get anywhere on this one.

I work in my son's special school, and have to say that here..if you opt for your child to have school dinners then you pay full price.. it makes no odds if your daughter only eats a spoonful, because the costings for the dinners are done on per meal. Some children eat the lot, some only eat small amounts and that is the same for many children including those without special needs.

Our school caters for a wide variety of specially adapted diets (gluten free etc) and will mash, puree etc but the cost is the same. I do not think they will make an exception.

Thank you all for suggestions. It looks like i have to keep on cooking and mashing, perhaps one day she will be able to eat a whole sandwich, at the moment she can chew quavers, biscuits although you have to watch her as she will put them all in her mouth at once :-( but its a start I guess :-) will post again with the outcome!!

Hi op, I know this won't help you as such, but it is the same the other way iyswim. My son stays for school dinners every day as school prefer him to be dinners than pack up as he has lots of allergies and the pack lunches all sit together and they can't control what the other kids bring. Whereas all school dinners are nut free.
But he also has a wheat allergy which makes catering for him, expensive. I have offered to pay extra as I know how much they have to pay for certain wheat free things, but they wont let me. The say it would be disriminatory to charge more. I know your situation is the reverse of this, but I think it's a case of, if you stay dinners, you pay the standard rate regardless (unless eligible for free school meals). I also don't think you'll get very far unfortunatly.

Quite that your school will mash/puree the food. I've had a right to do with our LEA's food service. We are not entitled to free school meals - and tbh I would not expect not to have to pay. Our school kitchen does not have a blender so were not prepared to puree. When it came to christmas dinner - which he wanted to join in - I had to puree it myself. He is also CFGF - which they won't can't cater for either. So I had to provide gravy, stuffing and a dessert for him - and still pay £2.20 as well.
My other DS has quite a complicated diet as well. They have said they will not cater for him either as his diet would not be considered 'healthy'. So I do packed lunches. My DSs do not have 1-1 so have to cope on their own.
I think that if they are prepared to puree, and the 1-1 feed her, imho they have tried to accommodate her needs.

auntevil..I mash it myself as i like to make sure that its proper mashed, her 1-1 feeds her, I never had a problem with that, she knows my daughter cannot feed herself, she is also teaching her how to grab the spoon so may be one day she will do it.. Healthy? what is that?? so im quite lucky that i send her with qauvers and they dont mind..