School dinners

[Zincubus]

School dinners

At primary I used to hate the school dinners and had potatoes and gravy most days then I had the idea of trading my meal for an afters like Apple pie and custard soooo then I’d no main meal but TWO lots of Pie and custard

At secondary I used to take Salmon butties and realised I could sell them to get extra cash for pop singles ( 7” vinyl) ..
By the second year ( aged12) we used to break the rules and skip through the neighbouring field to get to the local chippy ... the owners knew we weren’t allowed so they opened a little back room that seated about 20 of us ( out of sight )

I enjoyed the ‘danger’ of it all as well as I was such a goodie goodie at school - until I started truanting some afternoons to avoid English and the bullying teacher who ‘liked’ the girls but brutalised us lads physically and mentally..I still feel hatred towards him 50 years later


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[George 1978]

Re: School dinners

I always went home for dinner when I was at school (which I wasn't if you think about it), hence being 30 seconds late for afternoon lessons. Ironically, some of the lunchtime supervisors (dinner ladies to the working classes) were very supportive of someone like myself.

I suppose that it wasn't too different to the local councils' meals on wheels service which I had sampled regularly for a few years due to being, shall we say, disposed of for personal reasons.

[staffslad]

Re: School dinners

When I started secondary school in September 1973, school dinners were 12p per day. At primary school and secondary school there was no choice. I would class the food as basic but filling, and perfectly okay. My favourite was chips, fish fingers and beans, followed by chocolate shortcake and mint custard. For puddings there was quite a lot of the sponge and custard variety, doubtless as it was cheap, but again filling. We would sometimes get rice pudding or tapioca with raspberry jam. We would mix the jam into the pudding and turn it pink.

[battyrat]

Re: School dinners

Just remembered something else. The path we had to stand to wait to get into the dinner hall was lined with flowering bushes that attracted wasps. So we often got stung by a Jasper or two while waiting to get fed. Wonder if they were planted there for a reason or a warning of what to expect from our dinner lady's or to put people off waiting.

[battyrat]

Re: School dinners

Several things stick out. The first being soggy pink burgers in some sort of tomato? based sauce. Pink custard. Everybody trying to get in the dinner hall last on chip day so they could get seconds.

[Zincubus]

Re: School dinners

Faggots?

There's no need for that !!




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[tex]

Re: School dinners

Meatballs with maggots crawling out of them ... ( think it was rice actually) but everyone said they were maggots


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Faggots?

[zabadak]

Re: School dinners

Mashed potato with lumps, fatty gammon with white sauce, meat with tubes... (Shudder!)

[Zincubus]

Re: School dinners

Meatballs with maggots crawling out of them ... ( think it was rice actually) but everyone said they were maggots


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[kabrluja77]

Re: School dinners

Ohhh yes!! Who can forget mint custard with chocolate pudding, then another day it switched, mint pudding with chocolate custard.........mmmmm!!

[Arran]

Re: School dinners

The handbook for my secondary school stated something along the lines of "It is most undesirable that your son or daughter is given money to purchase food from a local fish and chip shop". This is despite there being no fish and chip shops within a reasonable walking distance of the school although there were other takeaways.

[Big Tim]

Re: School dinners

Both yourSchools sound similar to my School Big Tim!! At Primay I think I stayed for Lunch most of the time (though am unsure to totally recall what we had as meals) but by say Year 5/6 I wanted to start going home (and did a tad- well at least to Grandparents) but then Lunch was over too quick and I didn't want to go back for the Afternoon then Lol

At Secondary I generally had Lunch at School and pinned to go out but a combination of it not being allowed and the strictest Head ever going (unless if he had favourites) caused that to be a no-no ... but living on the Coast and going to a school on the Coast did at least make the idea a "potientialy awesome dream/idea"

80sChav

The going out on a lunchtime thing eventually being banned was apparently due to local residents complaining about having schoolkids dumping their litter everywhere, particularly in hedges! It actually caused a massive drop in takings for the local independent shops, with two closing down within a year of the ban taking place. There was an enterprising bloke in a mobile chip van who used to pick up a big trade from the school, and after being tipped off that pupils were not allowed to leave the grounds during the lunch hour, he had the audacity to drive into the schoolgrounds one lunchtime, and setup in the carpark - as you can imagine, he was quickly moved on by irate staff! Not long after, his van suffered a fire, and he didn't replace it.

Our primary school head ruled with a rod of iron - firm, but fair in most cases; but the rules regarding those bringing in packed lunches were very strict. Even in the mid-1980's, over two decades before the Jamie Oliver campaigns, there was no crisps, chocolate or fizzy drinks allowed, and you had to have at least one item of fruit/raw vegetable in there - lunchboxes were inspected for their contents, along with everyone's hands, to ensure they were clean before eating!

[80sChav]

Re: School dinners

At my primary school, I remember that there was not a choice (unless you had registered as a vegetarian), and whatever was on the menu that day was your only option, and you had to have it. On the whole, the food was pretty much ok, the puddings were nearly always the highlight - I don't seem to recall too many dodgy milk puddings, but definitely remember pink / mint / chocolate custard (each table of 8 got a steel jug, some people would almost fight over the skin, whilst others avoided it like the plague).

I remember on a Monday morning, we had to take our "dinner money" to be counted and recorded by our class teacher each week. I think it was around about £1.15 or something back in 1988/89. Around about this time, there was a big campaign on dental health - our school used to serve bowls of cheese or carrot slices AFTER dessert - the idea being this would clean or freshen up your teeth after eating. I don't know if this was only the case in York/North Yorkshire, or if it was a nationwide drive. It was fronted up by a character called "Herbie The Carrot"!

Secondary school was a canteen affair - buy and spend whatever you like. With 1500 pupils, there was a big dining room, and plenty of choice. However, during my time there, (1991 - 1996), many chose to go out to the local chippy/shops to eat. I believe this was banned after I left, and only those who had parental permission to leave the school grounds to eat at home were allowed to leave the school grounds.

Both yourSchools sound similar to my School Big Tim!! At Primay I think I stayed for Lunch most of the time (though am unsure to totally recall what we had as meals) but by say Year 5/6 I wanted to start going home (and did a tad- well at least to Grandparents) but then Lunch was over too quick and I didn't want to go back for the Afternoon then Lol

At Secondary I generally had Lunch at School and pinned to go out but a combination of it not being allowed and the strictest Head ever going (unless if he had favourites) caused that to be a no-no ... but living on the Coast and going to a school on the Coast did at least make the idea a "potientialy awesome dream/idea"

80sChav

[80sChav]

Re: School dinners

Some lucky pupils at the first primary I went to were allowed to go home for dinner due to dietry reasons, I tryed asking for my Mum to do this but was refused!

My 2nd primary was a lot more modern, with choices most days if you weren't the last class called in.

Hot half Scotch eggs were nice, but went with the samonella scare in 1988/9.

We all tried things like this Richard - I doubn we'd be human if not - not as it occurred to me personally at the time ... as at Primary School I swapped and changed between going home and staying at School

Not as I did this at Secondary/High School (whatever people desire to call it/refer to it as) but sure I wish we had gone out into/the Town/Village and had a laugh too. It is well sad that in many Schools today even this is a no-no - but though I'm not yet 40 and feel still youngish) this still gives young people an immensely bad press I feel/believe

80sChav

[Jedi Knight]

Re: School dinners

Some classics here. My School dinners were in the 80's so...

Domes of mash because it was served with an ice-cream scoop, and everything the food was stored in or served from were like an army mess tin (but much bigger).

Sponge pudding (the one with the strawberry jam and desiccated coconut on top) and custard, aluminium jugs of water served into emerald-green plastic cups. Those odd half-tables which made one large hexagonal table when two were joined together.

Banana tart, chocolate tart, horrible boiled cabbage, that strange pie type thing that tasted a bit like bacon inside it but you were never quite sure?

Massive trays of pie or sponge cake basically cut crosswise both ways, and you would be served a "square" of it.

Good times