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Are there any schools that do hot lunches?


alchetta

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Australia has always been a simple packed lunch with your friends as fast as you can so you have more time to play, I would rather them be out playing than lining up and taking up so much time eating lol. But our school is small and rural, local bakery does orders once a week some healthy options but mostly fun old school not so healthy.

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Princess Peach

I think that having a free lunch for kids each day available would be fantastic. Most Australian high schools don't even have seated cafeterias or access to microwaves etc.

If all students were able to have a nutritious meal, it would help with behaviour issues in the afternoon. It would also help minimise inequality between students.

 

Funny you mention this, our school this year have swapped eating time & play time around, so play time is first, then they bring them back to eat. Most kids are now coming home having eaten their packed lunch & classroom behaviour has improved out of sight as kids are not hangry.

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A hot lunch wouldn’t be a good idea for the Warner months anyway

 

Kids seem to like them. Lunch orders are mostly hot at our school all year round. And Ds takes a thermos slightly more often in winter but not much.

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Our kids canteen is vegetarian and has a wide range of meals. There are an extensive range of sandwiches, wraps, veggie burgers, pasta, pizza, nachos, haystacks or baked potatoes with toppings, and salads. The menu is 2 pages fine print and there are significant gluten free options.


You could eat there five days a week with plenty of choice and nutrition. It was a factor in us choosing a school due to the needs of our children and family.

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I think that having a free lunch for kids each day available would be fantastic. Most Australian high schools don't even have seated cafeterias or access to microwaves etc.

If all students were able to have a nutritious meal, it would help with behaviour issues in the afternoon. It would also help minimise inequality between students.

 

Funny you mention this, our school this year have swapped eating time & play time around, so play time is first, then they bring them back to eat. Most kids are now coming home having eaten their packed lunch & classroom behaviour has improved out of sight as kids are not hangry.

 


We switched lunch and play a few years ago and have had a noticeable improvement in behaviour at lunch and just after; fewer sick bay referrals at end of break and more kids eat their lunch fully.


DD's high school tuckshop has great hot food options.


I can't imagine trying to fit in a sit down hot lunch for students in the day. Mind you, I did visit the UK and enjoyed the hot lunches at school lunch.

When I was training to be a teacher I was at a primary private Prep school. They did hot lunches for the boarders and staff. Yum.

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I have never known any school in Australia to do sit-down hot lunches but I'm sure there are private places that do. I would advise not stressing too much about lunches in advance though. It sounds like your little one is 2-3 years away from starting school and in my experience worries about stuff like lunches tends to melt away when the time comes.


I remember buying a bunch of fancy big bento lunchboxes because my toddler and 3 yr kinder kid weren't crazy about sandwiches. By the time the lunchboxes were really needed they were both happy with a sandwich and fruit and I recently gave the bento boxes away after they had sat unused in the cupboard for years. Of course there's no harm in enquiring now but I definitely wouldn't be judging any school by its canteen menu, there are plenty of ways to buy pre-prepared healthy food if necessary.

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I think that having a free lunch for kids each day available would be fantastic. Most Australian high schools don't even have seated cafeterias or access to microwaves etc.

If all students were able to have a nutritious meal, it would help with behaviour issues in the afternoon. It would also help minimise inequality between students.

 

Funny you mention this, our school this year have swapped eating time & play time around, so play time is first, then they bring them back to eat. Most kids are now coming home having eaten their packed lunch & classroom behaviour has improved out of sight as kids are not hangry.

 



That is such a brilliant idea

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DD1's high school (Catholic but systemic not independent) does lovely hot lunches from the sound of things - they have a very strong hospo stream there. But she still has to pay for it every time, so no, not like US sitcoms I guess? They do however have access to a microwave, which DD1 takes full advantage of.


[mention]caitiri[/mention] similar happened at our primary school. They had huge uptake back when you could get pies and portions of lasagne. These days... not so much. They're open at recess (still one day a week) for chips and apples, and that's about it.

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DD's canteen is pretty good.

Fried rice, wraps, salads(DD likes the garden salad with shredded chicken or the fried rice), home made lasagne or a variety of pasta, sandwiches, rolls, slices, all sorts of stuff.

We have a breakfast club that provides toast and hot or cold milo 4 days a week too.


From what I've seen, the school lunches that provide a hot lunch every day aren't that healthy (Jamie Oliver did a show a few years ago trying to improve them) and it's a lot of frozen premade stuff. i wouldn't want my kid eating that day in and day out.

I'd far prefer the government spent money on other stuff in the public school system, better play areas, more resources, better readers etc more LSA's...

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I'd far prefer the government spent money on other stuff in the public school system, better play areas, more resources, better readers etc more LSA's...

Most definitely this.

As I said, our school has a fantastic canteen that provides a huge range of freshly cooked meals, run mostly by volunteers.


There are a million other things the school needs more that sit down hot lunches - like more teachers so class size can decrease enough so that all the kids can actually get a seat in the classrooms!!

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Sorry it just clicked I took 'hot lunches' to be like a cafeteria type where you queue and get food and sit in a dining hall and all eat together, DS has had hot food on canteen menus but it is like a shop where you buy and take away and eat wherever - the schools have it DS gets sometimes

 

Yep, this is exactly what I'm wondering about. I am happy to hear many canteens do better food options now, but it's just such an entirely foreign concept here for schools to have a cafeteria where you line up with a tray and all eat the same hot meal provided, you don't have to order it in advance, it's just the done thing. DH went to school in three different countries in Europe and this was how it was absolutely everywhere. He definitely still had a hot dinner at home as well as do most of our European families and friends. He still can't believe me when I say it doesn't exist here.


I need to brush up on my Thermos knowledge. Sounds like we'll be buying one of those that can take food other than just soup or liquid, I love the idea of sending warm pasta or meatballs in a Thermos.


If anyone wants to pitch their local Melbourne primary school to me based on the quality of its canteen I am all ears 😉, I just looked up a local school and it was party pies and sausage rolls or cheese and Vegemite sandwiches just like thirty years ago!!!


I love eb and all these fast replies, it's so helpful seeing all your experiences!! Thank you ❤️

 

Try Funtainers made by thermos. The food is still safely hot but not hot enough to burn the child. We use these and often the food is still hot when it comes back if not all eaten.

There are cheaper alternatives but you get what you pay for and often the food is cold by lunch time.

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We regularly send a thermos flask with hot food in it. Boarding schools provide lunch but other than that no, though my school had an amazing canteen with healthy food that was very inexpensive, but it was a private school so the funding was there. The school my kids attend has a great canteen, lots of healthy options and it's all ordered and paid for on an app.

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Hills Mum Bec

I think that having a free lunch for kids each day available would be fantastic. Most Australian high schools don't even have seated cafeterias or access to microwaves etc.

If all students were able to have a nutritious meal, it would help with behaviour issues in the afternoon. It would also help minimise inequality between students.

 

Funny you mention this, our school this year have swapped eating time & play time around, so play time is first, then they bring them back to eat. Most kids are now coming home having eaten their packed lunch & classroom behaviour has improved out of sight as kids are not hangry.

 

Our primary school has started doing this too and it's been working really well. They have also swapped recess to the afternoon instead of morning and the kids have an early lunch break at 11am.

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Lunches can be as fancy or as simple as you want - either option can be healthy and nutritious.


Packets aren’t the devil food.


Send what your kids eats, most kids want fast and easy.


If bitches make you feel bad about lunches think fuck them and know you are doing your best for your kid!!


Oh and my kids loves taking her thermos with leftovers!

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Pigeonpairplusone

My girls grammar school does it for boarders, day students have to pay for it. My son’s Anglican school has hot food available including vegetarian options & have employed a full time chef who makes most food on site, we order through the Flexischools app. At my kids old public school, there wasn’t an on-site canteen or tuck shop, they ordered through the local bakery 3 days a week.

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FearsomeFeralFreak

Leftover dinner in a thermos works a treat. Pasta, soups - all easy to do at home.

All canteens have healthy options these days,

I'm sure you will find some very expensive private schools that may provide a hot lunch. I know Joeys in Sydney does. Personally I'd rather put that $38,000 a year to a good thermos and the mortgage or family holidays.


Once school starts this will really be an issue of so little importance you won't remember why it was ever a concern.

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ArabellaKagical

Special schools will often provide lunch, its often used as a way to help teach socialisation - and with a provided lunch its one less variable to deal with. I have always been grateful when my DS has been given a place mainly for the educational support it provides him but I must admit not having to make lunches is a bonus

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My cousin went to a fancy boarding school that provided hot lunches and dinner. She said the food was great. But everything else about the school she hated. She moved to another school the next year.

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Really good points about the importance of other aspects of the school than food. I'm shockingly bad at even making myself lunch, so part of this is concern at having to step up and properly adult to send food to school every day but I will of course adapt. Here's hoping that DH will also get over the whole idea and get on board with packed lunches, and that when the time comes he'll get on with it and not bitch and moan about this issue every day for thirteen years!


Thank you for the thermos recommendations!

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DD's primary school has microwaves to heat up a meal but thats it, no canteen let alone hot meals. Lots of international students, which I think is what resulted in the microwaves.

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