School lunches across the Federation are provided by Norse.
All Infant children are eligible for Universal Free School Meals, this differs from Income/Means tested Free School Meals.
The cost of a school lunch for Junior children is currently £2.30 which MUST be paid in advance using the school money on line payment system.
Menus are sent home termly and children can choose which days they wish to have a school lunch.
The mid-day supervisors are on hand to help the children at lunchtime, although we do encourage independence from the beginning. We often have special menus and ‘theme meals’.
We work with NORSE to ensure menus are appropriate for our children. We are aware that not everyone is able to eat all foods safely, so if a child has a medically diagnosed allergy, intolerance or health condition they will work with parents/carers and health professionals to develop an individual menu where possible.
For further information about NORSE please see their website, but please note that our school menu is not the same as the standard NORSE menu – www.norsecatering.co.uk
Norse Commercial Services menus adhere strictly to the School Food Standards and all staff endeavour to cater to the majority of the school population. We are aware that not everyone is able to eat all foods safely, so if a child has a medically diagnosed allergy, intolerance or health condition we work with parents/carers and health professionals to develop an individual menu where possible.
Please see our Special Diet Policy and Registration Form below for more details.
Special Diet Registration Form
Free School Meals
Your child may be able to get Free School Meals if you get any of the following:
- Income Support
- income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- the guaranteed element of Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
- Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
- Universal Credit – if you apply on or after 1 April 2018 your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)
If your child is eligible for Free School Meals, they’ll remain eligible until they finish the phase of schooling (primary or secondary) they’re in on 31 March 2022.
Infant Free School Meals in England
When schools are open, all Infant children attending are entitled to a free school lunch. This is children in one of the following:
- reception class
- year 1
- year 2
If your child attends the Infant School and you also get any of the qualifying benefits please still apply for Free School Meals as the school can get extra funding which is used for additional support for the children, resources such as books to use at home, after school clubs etc. This is called ‘pupil premium funding’
If you think you may qualify for Free School Meals please apply via the following link. Please note you are liable for the costs of all meals taken at the Junior School until the application has been approved.
https://www.gov.uk/apply-free-school-meals
If you are entitled to the means tested Free school Meals as set out above (NOT the Universal Infant free School Meals) , if schools are closed in a lockdown, you may then also be entitled to lunches in this period, either by a food hamper or e vouchers for the supermarket. You would need to have applied for Free School Meals and have this approved for us to be able to organise this. We would check against the database for eligibility.
Packed Lunch
Children bringing a packed lunch require a named lunch box and a drink. No glass bottles, cans or fizzy drinks should be sent in. Hot drinks, hot food in flasksor other containers and pull-top cans of desserts are also not allowed because they could be dangerous. In accordance with our healthy eating policy children should not bring sweets or chocolate in their lunch box. It is helpful if spoons for yoghurts, puddings etc and straws for drinks, if required, could be sent in the child’s lunchbox.
No products containing nuts or shellfish should be sent in with the children to eat as we have some children with severe allergies. We appreciate your co-operation with this, as this can be very dangerous to those children. It can affect some children if they smell it or come into contact with another child who has eaten it, and can be fatal.
If you have any questions about school meals or applying for free school meals, please ring the Junior office and speak to Mrs Evans.