School lunches - a pleasant memory?

Yes I remember with pleasure delicious meaty stews, also the various baked puddings were scrumptious. The meals were cooked on site.
However to this day I really don't like rice pudding, no matter how nicely cooked.
I have to say though, that by the time my children were having school meals the quality wasn't anything like as good as mine had been.

Chicken casserole? We were never so lucky!

I remember the day of my eleven plus in 1965 - it was a Friday and we were all at the town's Secondary Modern School. They served a choice of two dishes: A meat pie and a cheese flan for the Catholics who weren't allowed to eat meat on a Friday.

There wasn't much I wouldn't eat - I particularly have fond memories of three different chocolate puddings - one soft sponge, one crunchy, and one sort of in-between. Eaten, of course, with custard.

At my primary school, it was always salad on a Wednesday.

I loved the sausage roll made on a tray a large long roll and the dinner ladies would cut off a slice on your plate and add scoops of mash and veg then gravy . I loved the pastry mashed in the gravy and if you got the end of the roll there was extra pastry ?
Hated the tapioca/frogs spawn with a dollop of red jam ?

I loved school meals and have happy memories of Irish stew, baked cod in parsley sauce, mushy peas, mashed carrots and swede, delicious quiche and salad, prunes and custard (yes, really!). The absolute favourite at primary school, a once-a-term treat, was deep fried spam fritters with mash and mushy peas ... Oh, I'm drooling now just thinking of it.

There were a few things I loathed, too: over-cooked leeks in watery white sauce, flapjacks, dead baby (suet pudding with red jam). We were made to clear our plates, too; no good saying you didn't like it - that is, until I chucked up the horrible leeks all over the head teacher's elegant shoes after which that policy was quietly forgotten.

I always enjoyed my school dinner .My favourites were best stew and dumplings. Meat and veg pie.
Savoury mince and veg with mash.
Favourite puds were the good old fashioned favourites of Spotted dick. Jam suet pud. Prunes and custard.
It's a shame they don't do this sort of food now but too many children just like finger food now .
Glad my gc are good eaters and will eat anything put in front of them and that the schools they attend have good choices as well as finger food stuff. Nuggets .pizza. Cakes for pud .

I have very fond memories of school meals, and I remember how we used to be seated 8 to a table. Water in coloured metal jugs, and the food came in large dishes from which you were 'served' by the 2 at the head of the table. Very often we could have 'seconds'. Delicious food and a daily lesson in table manners. Of course this was at the junior school, once in secondary education you queued with your tray and sat where you liked. I know which I preferred.

I also have lovely memories of school dinners. At our secondary school we sat in 'family groups' you were assigned a place on your first day and sat at that table throughout. Meals were served by the prefect and everyone was expected to join the conversation. Our cook shopped at the local market twice a week. We didn't have choices and weren't allowed packed lunches.

Ghastly grissley meat in gelatinous grey gravy, cabbage which had been boiled all morning, lumpy mashed potato dolloped out with an ice cream scoop, usually followed by some sort of cake covered in custard. To ring the changes, they coloured the custard - pink, brown or a lurid bright green. You've guessed right - I don't have fond memories of school dinners.

I remember having, what we pupils used to call, “all purpose pudding”, at my secondary school.

It was always the same sponge base, but some days it had coconut sprinkled on top, other times the dinner ladies stirred in cocoa powder to make it chocolate flavoured, then there was my favourite with a thin layer of jam and, intriguingly, one that was coloured green (I never worked that one out). It was always served with thick custard complete with leathery skin, one of my enduring food dislikes.

I remember writing an ode to “all purpose pudding” in an English lesson and reading it out loud to much amusement.

I couldn't stand school dinners.
Gristly meat, lumpy custard, watery cabbage..
And somebody standing by the slop bucket who would make you go and eat some more before you could scrape your plate off.

Horrible memories of lumpy mashed potato - it put me off for life, I still hate mash. Gristly meat too, though I did like most of the puddings.

Semolina with jam in it and liver like shoe leather disgusting, hated school dinners.

I went to a secondary school in Berlin, an English school at RAF Gatow, the food was delicious, at break time we had fresh cakes and hot chocolate or milk. Lunch menus were varied and all a delight.

God no they left me in perpetual fear of "lumps", lumps in potatoes, lumps in milky puddings the size of small planets. Along with catechism, long division and school milk, where was the "Milk Snatcher", when I needed her, they blighted my formative school years. Forcing children to eat or drink something they can't stomach is tantamount to child abuse imo. I didn't consider myself a picky eater, I certainly ate everything that was put in front of me at home. School dinners and the fact that pupils were forced to eat meals that could make them throw up left me vowing I'd never force any children I might have to eat food they found unpalatable. I did end up with one finickity green vegetable dodger, although he was okay once he was introduced to stir fried veg.

Being physically forced to eat rice pudding age 7 by a very scary dinner lady.
She held my mouth open and forced the rice in, I then proceeded to vomit all over her.
The school complained to my parents about MY bad behaviour, my Dad was very very angry. Not at me for once, no more school dinners for me.
I still hate milk puddings of any sort.

Primary school memories of sobbing over horrible liver for the whole of the lunch break and only allowed to leave the table once the bell went for afternoon lessons. Most days were like that for me but I didn't tell my Mum until I was much older - she was horrified but too late to do anything about it. We weren't allowed to take a packed lunch. The only thing I remember enjoying was something called Gypsy Tart for pudding but have no idea what it was

Something's gone wrong, hasn't it?
We had a good breakfast, wonderful school lunch with calorie filled desert, and went back for seconds if there was any left. Evening time we always had another full cooked meal. And I don't remember any of my school friends being over weight

Schools vary widely and did way back then too, when it came to school meals.
I would eat just about anything as a child ( just as well.)
I can’t remember if I actually enjoyed school meals at junior school or not, but I certainly liked all the puddings, especially ginger sponge and custard and even rice pudding and prunes.
Cheese pie was especially yummy and therefore I do remember it, but have little memory for the other offerings.
I know there was plenty of food though, and always seconds.
Grammer school was another story though as prefects doled out the food at each table, and there was never enough go go round and it was universally disliked anyway as being lumpy and gristly and half cold.

I too have very fond memories of school dinners at my junior school. The school had it's own kitchens, as did the attached infant school, and lovely dinner ladies. I can't remember all the choices, but mince with mashed potato and raw shredded white cabbage was a favourite. It was the first time that I had been presented with raw cabbage, and loved the different texture. Puddings were all delicious, and all served with custard. Those were the days. I also had school dinners when I went to grammar school, but can't remember those at all.

I hated school dinners and missed many playtimes at junior school whilst sitting over the meal I could not eat. We had lumpy mash, lumpy gravy, gristly meat, overcooked greens, ox liver as mains and puddings included prunes, tapioca, semolina, lumpy custard and shaving foam. At least at secondary school we weren't forced to eat but I remember being hungry. I wasn't a fussy eater - I liked my Mum's cooking.

I know a lot of people say they hated school dinners, but I loved them.

I enjoyed nearly everything but especially curry, salad and (proper) baked potato, mince meat pie, jam and coconut topped sponge with banana or chocolate custard.

Never ever had a school dinner, moi- so can't tell you.

In East London in the 50s we had to queue to have a spoon full of cod liver oil - from the same spoon - before eating the school dinner!!

LOL same in Switzerland- yes, same spoon. And we had a bowl of hot milk at morning break - oh that skin on top Fortunately my friend Denis would always pick mine off (we turned so teacher would not see us) - lift it and drop it into his mouth. Still can't stand hot milk to this day.