General Chat

Very sad-If the school always get the money in the end then I feel the child should have the dinner, even if the mum is late with the payment. £3.50 a day is expensive, think I paid for my daughter 12 months ago something like £6.50 for the week. Could the mother not have given a pack lunch incase she didn't get there in time? It's situations like this that make the child feel left out-singled out. I'm sure 1 more portion wouldn't have mattered to the company that are making a fortune by the sounds of it. Maybe the school could come to some arrangement with the mother, if she not got the money, then can a packed lunch be provided by the mother. catherine xx

It may be that the meals are not cooked on the premises and only paid for meals can be ordered and then the required number sent each day. I have known schools to provide lunch without payment but the meals do have to be paid for by someone. Perhaps the mum has not kept her word previously. I have also known teachers to share their packed lunch, each contributing something so that a child didn't go hungry. Many children have free meals and a register is marked each day when the number of free and paid for meals are recorded. Personally, had I been in the position of not being able to pay, I would have sent in a sandwich and piece of fruit. Did the mum have nothing that she could have given for lunch.? Gwyn

Hi Ann I saw on the local news recently that North Somerset charges £1.80 per day for a school meal. £3.50 is way over the top! I worked at a school where there were quite a few non-payers, although dinner money was paid weekly, not daily, giving them a few days' grace in which to pay. The staff at our school would never see a child eat bread and a banana, although like you say Ann, the media does tend to distort facts and if a child is offered several things but will only eat the banana, that's the bit they choose to print! Mandy :)

If the mother is obliged to pay for her child's school lunch, the obvious way to proceed would be for her to put aside the week's money as soon as she receives her funding. £3.50 seems excessive...........a nutritious packed lunch could be provided at a much lower cost, leaving the mother some spare money with which to purchase ingredients for a cooked meal in the early evening. I suspect that the mother can't cope with that......... Reg

thanks everyone, and thanks dawn thatw as what I wondered. I also wonder if the £3.50 was what she owed the firm. i.e. more than one day. I suppose these people are a business and have to make a profit. The school do say they have been and will continue working with this Mother so i wonder if she has gone to the paper for a sympathy vote and the paper don't have the whole story. If I was her I would give my child a packed meal on wednesdays. actually if the reconstruction photo was correct it was 3 pieces of dry white bread. Why couldn't they at least have buttered it? Ann Glos

Oh Ann what a sad story the poor child my heart goes out i think surely the school must have some sort of fund for such a situation how can this be allowed to happen these days it beggars belief .Don,t think much of the school must say June x

the school free dinners is if you are on income support or on Tax Credits if you get the child element of it and earn under a certain amount you get them but as soon as you get the working tax credit bit of it you dont get it even if you earn less than someone with just the child element, a complete mess up that the school welfare people are trying to get changed.

I think if I was faced with paying £3.50 for a school meal, I would opt to send a packed lunch. Much cheaper and probably much healthier. Liz

In our local paper the story of a primary aged child who was given dried bread, a banana and water for her school lunch because she had not paid for it. Apparently the mother is on family tax credit which does not arrive until Wednesday, on Wednesday she didn't have her child's dinner money of £3.50 so she phoned the school and said she would bring the money in between 11 and 12.30. the school promised that would be OK and that the child would get her lunch. Mum didn't get to the school until after dinner time (1pm). School says it is out of their hands. The dinners are provided by outside caterers who have apparently made a ruling that no dinner is served unless pre-paid for. Apparently they have had a lot of trouble with late payment. the school says they have tried hard to accommodate this Mother as this has happened before. Is the Mum a bad manager do you think, does she really not have enough to last her the week? (I am not getting at her) Are school dinners really £3.50 a day! Do you think the school could do more to help her? What would be your advice to the Mother? I want to add that I am genuinely interested here as I am not sure about the situation, knowing how the media can distort things to tug at your heart strings. Ann Glos

Hi Ann, I think it varies according to area, but last year at primary school, my daughter paid £1.55 a day. If she ever forgot her money she still had dinner and would be sent home with a note asking for the arrears to be paid immediately. She never went hungry. I was under the impression that families on a low income or benefits received free school meals. At least they do here, as whenever we get a permission letter for a trip, there is a box to tick if you receive free school meals, and then the school provides a free packed lunch. I hope that helps, Liz

Or is she really hard up for money? See below Ann Glos