General Chat

Or is she really hard up for money? See below 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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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 :)

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

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

whether her mother had paid for her lunch or not what sort of society do we live in where an adult would watch a child have a piece of bread and a banana for their lunch! - something wrong there i think!!

when my lot had scool dinners if they was absent for an appointment in the morning, when i let the office know they would be in later, they always asked if they'd be there for lunch. As teh food came from outside caterers, and if they was marked as absent, then no meal was ordered. No idea of the price these days as mine all have packed lunches, i simply can't afford dinners for them all. Dawn do you know what/when is being sorted by the welfare people you mentioned, as we're one of a number of familys who are on Family tax credit, but get a tiny amount of working tax credit, so do not qualify for free meals

The dinners in my local primary school is £1.50, you are meant to pay for them on a Monday for the whole week. If however you do not have the money on the day, you can pay later. In my sons comprehensive the children have cash cards which the parents have to put money on in the local council offices, or by sending a cheque into school , there is a £4 a day spending limit on them. No money no lunch. As a one time single mum I can understand that sometimes the money just don't always stretch till the end of the week. But I always made sure the money for bills, school and home meals were put aside before anything else was bought. This can be hard when there are unexpected bills, school trips and clothes and shoes to provide for but when I ever came up with a problem like this I just shopped wisely i.e. going round the shops for the special offers and making cheap homemade meals and treats. If I didn't have enough money for school meals I would make them a packed lunch instead. It takes a bit more time and energy but at least everyone has the things they need. Jackiexx

OK here is the whole report from the Citizen A Mum from Brockworth has hit out after she said her daughter was only fed bread and water for lunch because she forgot her dinner money.Michelle Williams, of Moorfield Road, Brockworth, claims her eight-year-old daughter, Courtney, was only given the meagre portions at Castle Hill Primary because she'd forgotten to send in the cash. But the school, which has healthy school status, claims the situation was out of its hands with the lunches being co-ordinated by an external company and a series of late payments making the situation more difficult. Michelle, 31, said: 'After Courtney had gone to school I had a call from the headteacher asking me for £3.50 for her dinner money. 'I told her I would take the money in between 11am and 12pm but could they make sure Courtney gets her dinner and they assured me that was fine. 'I went down to the school, but I didn't get there until after 1pm and when I gave the money to the cook she told me my daughter had only been given bread, water and a banana.' Michelle was furious and asked to speak to the head to say she was taking Courtney home to feed her. 'Courtney was also really upset that she had to sit with her friends while they all ate a hot meal of fish and rice and a dessert. Eating dry bread is just not on.' Michelle, who is currently unemployed, said she had explained to the school before that she does not receive her family tax credit until a Wednesday - often making it difficult for her to pay until later in the week. Castle Hill Primary headteacher Sue Rowlinson said the school had tried their best to help Michelle and find a solution to the payment problems and would continue to do so. She said: 'We have, on numerous occasions, provided meals and accommodated late payment from this parent; we would never allow a child to go hungry in school. 'However Sodexho, our school meal providers policy clearly states that payment for meals must be paid in advance and they will be unable to provide a meal if payment is not received. 'Our main concern is always the health and wellbeing of our pupils. We have tried to come to an arrangement with this parent to accommodate any difficulties she may have in paying for the meals at the start of the week. We will continue to try to find a way forward to everyone's satisfaction.'

The school dinners here are £1.65. I think it's disgusting what the child was given, don't know the full circumstances of the womens situation, but the child shouldn't have to go without. Heather x

Am I the only person reading this who would have died of shame, rather than go to the newspapers? I have been a single mum twice (two marriages) and my children got fed before anything else happened. They had packed lunches and I budgeted for those. I feel very sorry for this little girl, whose mother is shifting the responsibility of feeding her own child onto the school. We don't know what has happened in the past here. OC

OC am with you there....... before all else, ,my kids food & clothes come first.... then bills etc then kids bits and pieces ( not essentials but activities cubs/scouts etc) and IF there is anything left over I might get something for myself, but not usually anything left over!!!!

Oh, that poor child. I don't know how any adult in that school could sit by and let her eat that for her lunch - disgusting!!!! My daughters school meals are £7.75 for the week, sometimes i forget to take it in on the monday, but she still gets her meal!!!! Surely this woman would be on free school meals would she not???? I am really upset for this little girl, why didn't one of the teachers put the money in for her? It's not the kids fault is it??? Poor, poor little girl...... :-( LOU XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

Just read the report if the lady is unemployed she should be entitled to free school meals for her child. But either way no child should be given stale bread and a banana for lunch, how would the staff like it if it happened to their child. The only loser in this is the little girl. I know in my daughters school there are some parents that either forget or don't pay for their childs school meals but they never stop giving the children a meal they just keep sending letters home. They have recently started giving all children toast straight after morning registration as they found some children that do not have breakfast at home, all children also have free milk and a piece of fruit at break. Parents can make donations to this scheme if they are able to afford it. Jackie