Parent Forum 14/06/21

Present – Shelley Harries, Katie Armitage, Andrea Waddington, Vicki Judd, Julie Perrott

Discussion points:

• Carole Tyley from Big Fish was unable to join the meeting due to technical issues.
• Mrs Waddington presented feedback from the Big Fresh questionnaire that she had been sent. There were 53 responses to the questionnaire, mainly from parents whose children did have school meals. 31 thought £2.40 represented good value for money. 50% thought that the children should be offered the option of a baguette or a sandwich. Pasta was the most popular choice when asked what meals should be included on the school menu, however, responses were mixed. Jacket potatoes were the least popular choice. A large number of parents were in favour of fresh food served (not pre prepared food).
• Meeting moved to Zoom to allow Carole Tyley from Big Fresh to join us so we were able to hear the narrative included from parents’ responses. Question 12 gave more insight into parents’ views eg 19 said that portion sizes were too small, many said that yoghurt was served too often, if a child doesn’t like a certain vegetable they should be offered double of the ‘other’ vegetable available
• Carole explained that:

-Yoghurt features heavily in order to ensure that calcium was included within the menu;

-Custard was taken off the menu due to parents saying that it was served too often;

-They had tried to include meals such as casseroles in the past however they were not very popular;

-The salad bar is not out currently as they are not allowed to serve themselves due to COVID regulations;

-Welsh Gov have stated that pupils (regardless of age) need 530 calories per day;

-If Big Fresh provide a menu that goes above this calorie intake they would not provide the school with a ‘healthy school’ certificate, resulting in an official visit in relation to why the menu is not within guidelines;

-She has asked if the whole 5p (the rise in meal price this year) can go towards the ‘food’;

• KA asked if menus can be designed on a school-by-school basis to take account of the likes and dislikes of the children and the price that parents would be willing to pay for a quality meal. KA was told that the menu is set across schools so this was not an option.
• Portion sizes were talked about in great detail eg when pupils don’t like 3 out of 5 elements of the meal they end up with a very small meal, portion sizes don’t appear to be consistent throughout the week (cooked breakfast is a larger meal compared to a salmon crunchie and chips day).
• PE – often not happening at the start of the week in one class. Parents stressed how important PE is at the moment and particularly as our current topic is a sports related one.
• PE kits – parents really liked that the children come to school in PE kits 2 days per week. A parent asked if they could be informed as early as possible if this is to continue in September as they will be considering purchasing a new school uniform soon.
• Parents were happy with the new ‘flexible’ drop off arrangements in the morning.

Actions:

• Send out pupil questionnaire about food menu choices
• Remind parents/carers about the correct PE kit and that pupils should not wear trainers on ‘non PE’ days