Value and nutrition of school dinners under fire

England’s young children are being served “very small” school dinners, and given limited choice despite paying more for their meals, a survey of teachers suggests.

The poll reveals that almost a third of teachers do not believe that school meals are value for money, with some warning that pupils are often being given chips, pasta and rice rather than vegetables and salad.

It also found that there has been an increase in Free School Meals – a measure of poverty – as more families are hit by economic problems.

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Parents who do pay for their child’s meals are facing price rises, with a 50p per day hike costing families an extra £95 per child across the school year, the poll suggests.

The survey, conducted by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) questioned around 500 school staff in England about their views of school dinners.

The findings show that nearly two thirds (62 per cent) of teachers say the price of meals has gone up in their school or college this year.

Just over four fifths (82 per cent) said the price had risen by less than 50p, while around 17 per cent said it had gone up by 50p or more.

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More than a third (34 per cent) said they did not believe the price of dinners represented good value for money, while nearly a fifth (19 per cent) said the meals were not of a healthy standard.

A reception teacher from Bradford told the survey: “The younger children pay the same price but get much less [food] than the older ones. Also they do not get the choice as this is saved for the older ones.”

One person working in early years education said: “The young children often get very small portions and very limited choice.

“Children who come in with packed lunches eat a lot more at lunchtime.”

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And a primary school teacher said: “There are times that meals are good but others when they are most unappetising.

“There are occasions when the portion size is very small and there have been times when portions have run out.”

One secondary teacher said: “There are usually chips, pasta and rice available, while vegetables and salad don’t seem to be on offer.”

More than a third (36 per cent) of those questioned said there has been a rise in the number of children on free meals at their school in the past five years, the survey found.

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It suggests that this is down to the effects of the recession, and more parents facing redundancy.

A teacher in a secondary academy said “prolonged rural poverty, lack of job opportunities in the local area, an increase in single-parent families and home breakdown” were responsible for the rise, while a primary teacher added: “The intake of children from disadvantaged families has increased and Government cut-backs in welfare have not helped.”

ATL general secretary Mary Bousted said: “It is absolutely the case that children are going hungry in school, and we all know what hunger does to ability to learn,” she said.

The survey comes as ATL members debated free school meals at their annual conference in Manchester.

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Delegates passed a resolution recognising that a rise in child poverty will further increase the importance of school dinners and cooking skills for the health of children and young people.

It calls on the Government to introduce a universal credit system to make sure that qualifying for free school meals becomes the accurate indicator of child poverty.