What lunch bag for high school?

[Bizkit]

What type of lunch bag?

DS is starting high school in sept and I'm assuming they don't use the common character/cool bag type ones used throughout primary school, I've not seen any children carrying a separate lunch bag, when I've seen then walk home from school.

I don't even know where their lunch will be stored all day? Any ideas?

I'm thinking just a small plain coloured zip up cool bag thing that can fit in his rucksack?

I can't for the life of me remember what I did back in my high school days...

[snozzlemaid]

My dd just has a plain clip lock plastic box.

[ALMOSTMRSG]

No lunch bag. Just wrap up lunch and put in a clear Tupperware box or plastic zip lock bag.

[TheFirstOfHerName]

DS1 (14) says the only acceptable lunch bag is a plain tupperware-style box or a supermarket carrier bag.

[Solo]

I agree. But plaster his name all over it and start now telling him he must remember to bring it home each day! My Ds was a nightmare for losing them, so in the end, lunch went in just a plastic sandwich bag.

[Ragwort]

I think plastic sandwich bags are the only answer soon they will just want a pot noodle . Forget any nice ideas about yogurt/interesting fruit/salad stuff etc.

[17leftfeet]

Packed lunch at dd's school is social suicide -they would rather starve

[Bizkit]

Ah box seems the way to go then, do they keep it in their rucksack till lunch time then?

I have a feeling I'm going to be paying for school dinners everyday

[ElephantsNeverForgive]

Sandwich wrapped in a plastic bag, they have too much to carry.
Not convinced it always gets eaten.

My two seem to survive on brunch, bacon butties, cookies andd crisps. Secondary food is expensive, the queues are stupid and they always seem to be doing something at lunch time.

I've no idea why the government spends millions on teaching primary DCs healthy eating when secondary schools food is so under resorced that all tbe pupils escape to the sweet shop at every opportunity, including the bus DCs who are not supposed to leave site. One enterprising lad used to send his uncle to the cash and carry and sell sweets on the bus!

[Hassled]

I went out of the back gate to see if I could see any sign of DS2 coming up the road once when he was worryingly late home. He was outside the gate, wolfing down his packed lunch before he dared to come in. Packed lunches are definitely not cool.

[Frontier]

Noooo. Sorry but they MUST have warm sandwiches. No cool bags allowed. A plain plastic box may be acceptable but not for all children, plastic bags and squashed sarnies far preferable

My DSs have to carry their lunch with them all day so it has to be indestructible, not look at all healthy and be sufficient for there to something left for lunch when they've eaten most of it a break. No fruit/veg or homemade cake.

For my DSs (who feel much like 17leftfeet's) we have reached a compromise whereby I charge their "thumbprint" with £20 per half term, so they can join thier mates buying junk in the canteen sometimes (DS1 buts a cake most days, DS2 prefers chips) but the bulk of what they eat comes form home. I can't be giving them £4 each per day to spend on junk food

[Purpleflamingos]

It's in a plastic bag or something easily accessible between classes. You get detention here if you get caught eating between classes but it's social suicide to have a proper one. Belvitas, crisps, chocolate bars such as penguins or mini twix but not charnocks, cans of coke, and banana are lunch. I think we even did warm sausage rolls wrapped in foul at one point which was acceptable alongside the junk.

[Purpleflamingos]

Foil. Not foul.

[Bizkit]

oh dear this sounds like its gonna be alot more complicated than I anticipated

[Caramelkate]

Agree with plastic bag or plain box. Wraps are slightly likely more to be eaten than sandwiches. Bel vitas are popular with my girls. One of mine took a bento for a few weeks. Check bags and bedrooms for the unbeaten stuff fairly regularly!

[Ragwort]

Elephants I agree - it is interesting that primary schools are obsessed with childrens' lunches (lunch box police and all that ) yet at secondary school no one is interested and the canteen sells absolute rubbish which they all love of course. .

[ChillySundays]

Plastic box to bring home uneaten. I am now wondering what happens at college. Think DS expects me to subsidise his subway habit. Not sure I can justify £80 or so a month

[bigTillyMint]

They don't have lunch bags at secondary school!

DS(13) says it's moist for boys to take packed lunch, so he has money on his fob.
DD takes a Tupperware box with a roll/bagel in a little sandwich bag, a couple of pieces of fruit and a yoghurt/biscuit plus a bar/BelVita for breakfast as she can't eat early in the morning

[ElephantsNeverForgive]

It really is crazy the way all primary's efforts to encorage healthy eating are just thrown out.

I believe there js some reasonable food avalible, but no one bothers queueing for it (it was bad before school shortened lunch, now it's impossible) and it's expensive and drink prices are worse The pupils grap 35p cans of rubbish from the nearest shop on the way home.

If OP you can get your DC to take and eat packed lunch it's worth a few lost boxes and a roll of bags.

[todayisnottheday]

No pack up at secondary here either. Definitely social suicide. We've been through two schools now, both were the same. Honestly I'd pay for lunch for the first week and pack some easy stuff like crisps and breakfast bars in a side pocket somewhere so she can scope things out and then decide. A child in ds class started yr 7 with a black cool bag, he only took it once but ds says it was still being mentioned at the end of the year. Ds was terrified of committing a similar crime. Yr 7 can be harsh.

[Solo]

My Ds never worried about not being cool with a packed lunch; he'd eat it all at break anyway and there were quite a few boys doing the same. Lunches can be bought for under £2 a day and were quite decent, but I couldn't afford to pay out for them.
Ds tends to eat whatever I give him as he has a big appetite and can't stomach breakfast.
I also think boys worry less about how their food is provided as long as it is. Girls on the other hand...far less likely to eat.

Sixth form will be interesting though!

[popperdoodles]

plain plastic box and he never eats it anyway, too busy apparently. he eats it on the way home or when he gets in
it stays in their bag all day. d's also said it was awkward trying to find somewhere to sit as it was so busy.

[popperdoodles]

to add though, school lunch are very healthy at his school, no chips in sight. they are not allowed out to local shop either. ds says the trouble is you waste your whole lunchtime in a queue and then eating it, he would rather be playing football!

[Frontier]

Yes, Elephants. It seems madness to me too. I would say that the Senior school feeding policy is possibly even more important than for little ones - the habits they pick up as teenagers being far more likely to be the ones they take into adulthood.

I dread to think what's being spent on the (slightly questionable) healthy eating message in primary only for it all to be undone as soon as they turn 11.

[myotherusernameisbetter]

Mine have money on their lunch card to get school lunch and have their own cash if they want to trek down to tesco and back, but prefer a packed lunch - they have these:

www.houseoffraser.co.uk/Sistema+%60Lunch+cube%60+tupperware+box+in+assorted+colours/166951715,default,pd.html?cm_mmc=Google+Shopping--Product+Extensions+And+Listings--Sistema-_-_Sistema+Lunch+cube+tupperware+box+in+assorted+colours&$$ja=cgid:8174950795|tsid:44970|cid:146504275|lid:75028742035|nw:g|crid:36231323995|rnd:7569554823891206957|dvc:c|adp:1o2|mt:|bku:1

[Hulababy]

Apparently many of the girls at DD's high school have a "little brown bag" type thing - though often the fake ones.