Our school lunches are cooked on site by Mrs Graham, our school cook. The menu is worked out by NYES Catering to ensure a good nutritional balance with the emphasis on healthy food. Allergies and dietary needs can be taken account of so please do talk to the school if your child is interested in a school lunch.
If your child brings a packed lunch please can I encourage you to support our Healthy Schools Status by not sending in food that is high in sugar and fats, such as crisps, chocolate biscuits, cakes or fizzy drinks. Thank you for your support with this. We also request that your child has a labelled bottle of fresh water in school every day. This is proven to help concentration and prevents dehydration. Thank you.
From September 2023 a school lunch will be £3.15 a day for school pupils and £2.50 a day for nursery pupils.
From September 2014, all children in reception, year 1 and year 2 in state-funded schools in England will be eligible for universal free school meals.
Payment details for dinner money can be found on ParentPay. If school dinner balances are not paid within 2 weeks then alternative arrangements will need to be made for lunchtime meals. The registers are updated on ParentPay on a Friday for dinners taken that week. If there are any issues or concerns please see Mrs Worthington.
NYES Catering have a dedicated team who work closely, are able to provide information, and will aid with any queries around our menus, including special diet menus, allergens, school food standards and nutrition.
Mrs Graham works with you to ensure that we are able to support, where possible, with any special dietary requirements that your child may have.
The allergen procedures and policies we have in place are essential requirements to ensure that the individual needs of pupils are safely met. It is vital that on behalf of your child you, as their parents/carers/guardians, meet with us to go through options should your child have any dietary requirements. This is particularly important within school due to pupils being under 18.
As well as a focus on allergens, special diets include: intolerances, religious and cultural requirements and dietary choices. NYES Catering work closely with their local suppliers to ensure that they are continuously increasing the availability of allergen-free foods, have a variety of food on offer, and utilise these where possible to align with their core menu and to ensure an inclusive offer.
NYES Catering comply with government guidelines around food regulations for allergens and food labelling. Centralised recipe and menu packs are provided to the on-site catering teams, which also contain a breakdown of ingredients, and the food allergens they contain.
We want to ensure that your child is safely catered for each day and with this in mind should your child require a special diet we ask that you complete our Special Diet (SD) Form and return it to school. A meeting will be arranged for you with Mrs Graham to discuss the information provided and to go through the menu. This will help review what is suitable for your child each day. For meals that aren't suitable, the catering team will try to adapt the recipe for you child, however in some instances this may not be possible, but the catering team will do their best to be able to offer an alternative.
Free school meals are currently available to children whose parents are in receipt of one or more of the following benefits:
Children who receive income support or income based jobseeker's allowance in their own right are also entitled to free school meals.
Should you meet the above criteria, you can apply by using the online application form:
https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/education-and-learning/free-school-meals
Applications are usually processed the same day. If your child is entitled to free school meals you will receive a letter confirming the date when the meals will start. The school is also notified that your child is entitled to free school meals. In the meantime, you should continue to pay for free school meals until confirmation comes through. Schools may be able to arrange a reimbursement of any monies paid whilst your entitlement is being confirmed.
If you are not entitled to free school meals you will be notified in writing.
From September 2014, all children in reception, year 1 and year 2 in state-funded schools in England will be eligible for universal free school meals.
Further Information provided by North Yorkshire Council