General Chat

no, but i do think some parents need educating, i once went on a school trip where a 6 year old had 3 bars of choclate in her lunchbox, i mean seriously, why?

my little dude has a very healthy packed lunch, as its up to us as parents to keep our children healthy,

If they want to ban packed lunches, then 'proper' kitchens should be re-instated.
What nutritional value is there in food that's either been cooked, delivered to the school and reheated, or food that's been delivered hot to the school and kept warm for 3 hours??

Perhaps these people should visit a REAL school 'kitchen' (as they no longer exist) and see what goes on :-P

my granddaughter cannot have scool dinner as it,s mainly fish on the the menu which she is allergic to so has packed lunches every day if schools caterd for her she would.

Michael 2, you've pinpointed a truly valid point.
Can/will outside caterers cater for those with allergies?
Can they ensure no nuts were in the vicinity of the food being prepared?
Can they ensure products are gluten free?

Yet another un-thought-out quango-induced idea :-P

I wonder how much this 'research' cost the taxpayer?

It has already been the norm for several years in some London schools. In my borough there is already free school meals for all primary children.

The secondary schools also and even in neighbouring borough the children are no longer allowed out at lunch time anymore.

Across the river my daughter-in-law manages several children's units and they have as well breakfast clubs.

Those that can't afford they can apply for free school meals.

What has been proved is that properly cooked food is food for the brain and aids their education.

Properly cooked food - not food created in a factory, re-heated or kept warm!!!
Very few schools have properly equipped kitchens now.

This was the subject of a thread on a parenting website. Some of the comments included...

Cost - especially if you have more than one child.
Some said the meals were unappetising.
In some cases schools ran out of food, eg, a child could end up with a jacket potato but no filling.
Allergies - there are numerous allergies out there. Nuts is the most well known one but there are others including dairy and eggs and any allergy can cause anaphylaxis shock. No school can guarantee that everything would be safe to eat for every child.

Yes, some parents do need educating about nutrition but the vast majority don't and are more than capable of feeding their children balanced diets.

Rollo, quite frankly your first post was offensive and insulting to the vast majority of parents.

The state Primary School where my Children attended had fantastic healthy and well balanced meals which were cooked on site with local ingredients. It was a large school with over 400 pupils. My youngest in particular really enjoyed them.

However the Comprehensive in the same town seems to serve up Pizza, sausage rolls and other such stuff so my youngest has a packed lunch. He said the food there was "rank" The year 11s are allowed into town at lunchtime and buy pizza, which is cheaper at a local national pizza takeaway in town.

Our Son has a cooked balance meal in the evening with the rest of us.

Its all a matter of balance.