Meeting with the authority

Spent all morning in a "School Meals Development group" meeting. There were representatives from head teachers, merton parents for better food in school and staff from the the council. We were joined part way through the meeting by staff from ISS Caterhouse.
I think it is fair to say primary school meals in Merton didn't get off to the most brilliant start. Changes with the suppliers led to delivery problems which resulted in menu deviations. However we were able to thrash this out with the contractors and this should not happen again. We were also pleased to learn that the menu had been rejigged so pasta will no longer appear 4 times in one week!
All primary schools will be given a week of free school meals for all their reception children. This is being paid for out of the school lunch grant money that the government provides to help councils increase the number of children eating school meals.
There was also a brief discussion about looking at different ways to collect school dinner money. We were very nervous that a high tech solution could end up beingg more costly and potentially create more work. However the council are planning to research this properly before they make any changes. As Merton parents we want to make sure we get lots of views from parents before there are any changes. So watch this space!