School Lunches and Healthy Snacks

 

 

 

 

Spring Summer Menu – Healthier than you think

Spring Summer Menu – No Junk Food

 

Jacket Potato Menu March – October 2024

School Menus – April – October 2024

 

If there are temporary changes to the menu a ParentMail message will be sent out.

Hampshire County Council Education Catering, Your Award-Winning School Caterer

With over 30 years of successful school catering experience, our ethos is to provide healthy, local, responsible sourced food that children love. Our tasty, freshly cooked, nutritious dishes help your children flourish and reach their potential. As part of a balanced diet, our lunches provide a third of a child’s daily calorie intake, to aid concentration levels and give them energy to focus and to play.

We know that providing award-winning meals isn’t enough and so at Hampshire County Council Education Catering we go that step further, by helping schools and the wider community to encourage children, parents and carers to live healthy lifestyles and think sustainably.

That’s why our ‘Ready Steady Cook’ and Cook, Eat, Educate programmes are fun, engaging and available in your area. We also offer healthy eating sessions at school in collaboration with Public Health England. Our added value ‘Food to Flourish Classroom’ resources help teachers educate your children in an innovative, food related fashion that cuts across the curriculum.

Where opportunity arises, and in a Covid-safe environment, we bring live cooking and food related workshops to the classrooms. Sometimes, through partnerships with our suppliers and other local food organisations, this maybe outside of the classroom, creating sensory-filled memorable experiences.

Celebrate with us throughout the academic year as we support, VegPower’s Eat Them To Defeat Them campaign encouraging children to eat more vegetables, Nutrition and Hydration Week and National School Meals Week; key events in the food and drink calendar which are lots of fun.

Want to know more about Hampshire County Council Education Catering?

To access their website please follow the link here

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Our menus are:

Does your child need a medical special diet to eat lunch at school?

If so, you need to create an account to register your child for a medical special diet.

Once you have created your account, we will be able to review your medical evidence with our NHS dietician in order to devise an adapted menu for your child’s school lunch.

Living with allergies comes with its own set of rules so when it comes to food, as education caterers, we want to make this as easy as possible for you as a family. Our staff are trained in food safety and regularly update their skills on allergens. We never underestimate the dangers of food allergies and intolerances and that’s why we work hard to get it right.

More details can be found Special diets | Hampshire County Council 

 

SCHOOL LUNCHES

Hampshire County Council Education Catering operate a 3 week menu, with 3 choices each day (meat, vegetarian, jacket potato). The menus can be viewed from the links above, and pupils select in the morning which of these options they would like to ensure that the correct number of portions are prepared. Pupils may choose to have a school lunch or bring their own packed lunch on a daily basis.

In 2012, the school’s Young Governors worked with Hampshire County Council Education Catering to improve the school dinner experience for pupils, particularly our older children. This has resulted in Hampshire County Council Education Catering providing a salad bar for all pupils which they can help themselves to.  There is also a second servery being provided for Y4/5/6 pupils which means that they are always served during the first part of the lunch hour, allowing more time to play, and also that they can eat their hot school lunches with their friends who have packed lunches. Fewer children being served at the main servery has also reduced the waiting time for the other KS2 pupils.

UNIVERSAL INFANT FREE SCHOOL MEALS

All children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are entitled to a meal, free of charge, under the UIFSM programme.

Registration is not required for children to have the free meals. But schools get government funding for all children who meet the standard free meal criteria. The funding is called the Pupil Premium. To let schools get the funding for as many pupils as possible, we encourage parents of children who meet the standard free meal criteria to register. This includes parents of children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2.

School meals for children in KS2 (Year 3 – Year 6) who aren’t entitled to UIFSM currently cost £2.60 a day. School meals should be paid for in advance through our on-line payment system (see Parents’ Information page) or dinner money should be sent in a clearly labelled envelope to the school office.

HEALTHY SNACKS

The government provides a piece of fruit for every child in reception classes and KS1. Pupils from YR – Y2 therefore do not need to bring in their own snack for morning break, but we encourage all pupils to bring a named water bottle which they can access in the classroom.

At Key Stage 2, pupils who wish to have a snack at morning break should bring a healthy snack e.g. fruit, vegetable sticks, cheese etc .

KS2 pupils are also encouraged to bring a named water bottle to keep in the classroom.

FAQ

Q:   Are children able to have second helpings?

A:   Due to government guidelines, the food provided in the kitchen has strict portion controls and therefore the kitchen is unable to offer seconds. The meals are designed to provide one third of children’s daily needs. However, pupils may help themselves to salad to go with their main meal and freshly baked bread is also available on the salad bar.

Q:   Are children made to eat everything on their plate?

A:   The children are encouraged to eat as much of their meal as they can manage, and to try some of everything on their plate. If children do not like the vegetables of the day, they can always have salad instead. We do not expect the children to eat everything, but midday staff will speak to the class teacher if they are concerned that children are not eating much of their lunch, so that this can be discussed with parents. Our midday staff are careful to watch for pupils who may be rushing their lunch in order to go out to play.

Q:   What order to year groups go into lunch?

A:   All Reception and Y1 pupils go in first for lunch. Y3/4 children go out to play and are then called in at approximately 12.20pm.  Y3 collect meals from the gym to take to the classrooms and Y4 collect meals from the Y6 Common Room to take to the classrooms.   Y2 pupils go straight after Y3. Y5/6 pupils have a separate servery and so take it in turns to be served first.

Q:   Do children always get their first choice of meal?

A:   We use a coloured band system to help ensure that whatever ‘colour’ meal choice the children order in the morning is available to them at lunchtime. Occasionally, due to circumstances outside of the kitchen’s control e.g. delivery error, an alternative lunch choice may be provided which is different from menu.

Q:   Who should I speak to regarding questions or concerns about school lunches?

A:   The kitchen manager starts work in the school kitchen at 8.15am each morning and is happy to chat to parents about the meals—please come to the school office and ask for her. She is also able to answer queries about special dietary requirements. Any questions regarding organisation of lunchtimes or supervision should be directed to the Headteacher.