Calls to bring back school dinners

Friday 12 September 2014

They might bring back memories of soggy semolina for some but parents in Jersey are calling for dinners to be put on the menu in the Island’s primary schools.

The UK introduced them last week and the government is now paying for every child in reception, year 1 and year 2 in state-funded primary schools to have a hot school dinner.

And here in Jersey, a group of mums on social media want to see the same happening in Island schools. A discussion on the Mums in Jersey Facebook group has called for school dinners, with some calling for school milk to be re-introduced too.

But Jersey's Education department says they've got too much on their plate financially at the moment and there are no plans for free school dinners to be introduced for  children in the Island.

When the government piloted school dinners in schools in the UK, they found that students given free dinners were academically months ahead of their peers elsewhere and more likely to eat veggies at lunchtime instead of things like crisps.

The Deputy Prime Minister’s aim is to improve grades and cut costs for families who spend around £437 a year on school lunches per child.

Although not free in the UK, all pupils who go to Ofsted-registered pre-school, nursery, primary or secondary schools are also eligible for subsidised milk.