What a school-lunch notice is asking you to do
給食の時間と給食費
- Applies to
- All of Japan
- Source last checked
- , Open the Japanese source
- Official source
- 外国人児童生徒のための就学ガイドブック（文部科学省）
Many elementary and junior-high printouts are about lunch (給食, kyūshoku). The Ministry of Education's guidebook for foreign children starting school describes the usual pattern. Your school's paper is the one that counts.
What the guidebook says
Most elementary and junior high schools serve lunch as part of the school day. Children usually set the food out and clear it away. The point the guidebook states is a shared, balanced meal, not a restaurant menu.
Parents pay the lunch fee (給食費). A payment slip is the school's request for that fee. Pay it the way the slip says, by the date on the slip.
If a child cannot eat something for a health or religious reason, the guidebook says to talk to the class teacher (学級担任). It does not itself describe a doctor's form. Schools now also follow the ministry's later allergy guideline. Use that conversation, and the form the school sends.
A monthly menu (献立表) tells you the dishes and the days. If a day has no lunch, the menu or a separate note says so, and you send a packed lunch (弁当, bentō) only if the paper says to. Verify the month's paper with the school.
Your child's dates, not the general ones
Add your child and ward. The timeline does the rest.