Call for school dinner bargains

Schools should hold a "January sale" of school meals to attract more families, says a charity.

The School Food Trust says local authorities and schools should use special offers to tempt more customers, at a time of year when cash is tight for many parents.
The Trust points to new research which shows that price is a very important to parents' decision to choose a school meal over packed lunch. The study by the London School of Economics found demand for school meals is more sensitive to price changes than other food products, according to the study, with price rises likely to lead to a fall in take-up.
An analysis of the relationship between school meal take up and prices.

School kitchens close to breaking point says union

School meals staff are under intolerable pressure because of the switch to healthier dinners says their trade union.
The change from convenience to fresh foods means a sharp increase in workload and skills needed by staff, says Unison. These include extra cooking, cleaning and stock control duties. But the changes have not been matched by more pay, training or staffing hours.
A survey of school meals staff found nine out of ten said work pressures had increased since they were expected to cook meals from scratch. Barely one in twenty said extra staff had been taken on, and nearly half had no extra training.
School meals staff are also worked that the school kitchen has become more dangerous with people moving around and working under intense pressure. There is more cleaning needed, and if it is not done properly the health of children who eat the lunches could be at risk.
Unison's head of education Christina McAnea said the union was shocked by the outpouring of anger that came back in the survey. "Many are forced to work unpaid overtime just to get the meals ready."
Unison is recommending immediate risk assessments of school kitchens, and a review of cleaning standards and staffing levels.
It also wants more training for staff, and is calling on the Training and Development Agency (TDA) to develop a course for school kitchen managers.
Voices From the School Kitchen
The impact of school reform on staff

Free meals for all

All primary school children in two local authorities are to get free school meals in a government experiment to see what effect it has on behaviour and obesity.

The pilot scheme will last two years, and two local authorities in deprived areas will be chosen. In a third authority the eligibility rules for free meals will be changed.

Hull council introduced free meals for all primary children, but Labour lost power in the local elections and the Liberal Democrats scrapped the scheme.

Under the present rules, about 16% of primary children are entitled to free school meals but child welfare charities say many don't take them because of the stigma attached, and fear of bullying.