Please click on this link to access Lancashire catering school food plan
School Meals
All school meals are cooked on site and the service is run by Lancashire County Commercial Services. The meals produced use only high quality, mainly fresh ingredients and represent very good value for money. Currently a meal is priced at £2.30.
A three week rotation menu is emailed to all parents (via Parentpay) whenever a new menu is introduced. This is to make you aware of the 3 choices per day. You can discuss these with your child helping them to make a considered decision every day. Each morning, your child will be asked if they are having a school dinner; if they are, they will select a choice from three mains (one of which will either be a sandwich, panini or jacket potato) and they will be given a coloured band. This band will signify their choice to the school cook at lunchtime which eases the service. The children then hand in their bands, ready for the next day. As parents you are allowed to choose the number of meals per week that you wish your child to have. If your child would only like one meal one week and then five the next, that is fine; just adjust your payments accordingly. Dinners are paid for via Parentpay. All pupils in the Reception class and KS1 (classes 1 and 2) are entitled to a FREE school meal and therefore we encourage you to take up this offer.
Packed Lunches
About a third of our children bring a packed lunch to school rather than eating food prepared at school. Recent reports, however, have shown that the food typically eaten in lunchboxes provides too much fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt – and not enough fruits and vegetables and essential nutrients.
The packed lunch represents approximately a third of the child’s daily food intake and therefore it is important that it offers a meal in line with the Eatwell food profile to ensure that all the nutrients needed are provided.
What is in a typical lunchbox?
About 70% of children’s lunchboxes contain crisps, cheese products, chocolate bars and biscuits and only half of all lunchboxes contain a fruit or vegetable – with very few containing both. In almost a fifth of lunchboxes there is no starchy food such as sandwiches, pasta, rice or an equivalent and therefore lacking healthy starchy foods. Many packed lunches contain soft drinks, increasing the sugar content of the packed lunch.
The UK government produced packed lunch guidance to support the implementation of new school food standards for school lunches and ensure that all children benefit from eating quality food during the school day.
The guidelines are:
- One portion of fruit and one portion of vegetable or salad every day to be included in packed lunches
- Meat, fish or another source of non-dairy protein should be included every day. Non dairy sources of protein include lentils, kidney beans, chickpeas, hummus, peanut butter and falafel
- An oily fish, such as salmon, should be included at least once every three weeks
- A starchy food, such as bread or pasta, rice, couscous, noodles, potatoes or other cereals, should be included every day
- A dairy food, such as semi-skimmed or skimmed milk, cheese, yoghurt, fromage frais or custard should be included every day
- Free, fresh drinking water should be available at all times
- Include only water, still or sparkling, fruit juice, semi-skimmed or skimmed milk, yoghurt or milk drinks and smoothies
- Snacks such as crisps should not be included. Instead, include nuts, seeds, vegetables and fruit (with no added salt, sugar or fat). Savoury crackers or breadsticks served with fruit, vegetables or dairy food are also a good choice
- Confectionery such as chocolate bars, chocolate-coated biscuits and sweets should not be included. Cakes and biscuits are allowed but these should be part of a balanced meal
- Meat products such as sausage rolls, individual pies corned meat and sausages / chipolatas should be included only occasionally
What’s in a healthy packed lunch?
A child at school should have about a third of their daily nutrient requirements at lunchtime. This means they need food that are going to provide them with enough energy, protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals.
A healthy packed lunch should contain a mix of foods from the EatWell Plate. The EatWell Plate shows how much should be eaten from each of the 5 food groups.
A good packed lunch contains:
- A starchy food, such as bread, rolls, pitta bread, naan bread, potatoes, rice, noodles.
- These foods are good for children to fill up on.
- A good source of protein, iron and zinc such as meat, fish, beans, nuts or eggs.
- A good source of calcium such as milk, cheese, yoghurt or fromage frais.
- And one portion of fruit and one portion of vegetable or salad to provide all the other vitamins and minerals. A piece of fruit could be a 100% juice or piece of fresh fruit, dried fruit or tinned fruit in fruit juice. A piece of vegetable could be a fresh vegetables such as carrot stick, salad or a vegetable soup or vegetable dish.
No single food contains all the essential nutrients the body needs to be healthy and function efficiently so it is important that the content of the packed lunch is varied.
What about snacks such as crisps, cakes, pastries and sweets?
These foods should only be given occasionally. Children will then appreciate them more.
If these foods are included in packed lunches they might eat these first and not have the appetite to eat the other foods that will provide them with the important nutrients they need to grow and develop, be healthy and active.
Links to further resources:
Department for Education Standards for School Food in England
Food – a fact of life provides accurate and consistent information about healthier eating in the form of lesson plans, power point presentations, activities, worksheets and recipes for use with children aged 5-11 year olds, including an activity to make a healthier packed lunch.
The Children’s Food Campaign, part of Sustain has lots of information about the new Minimum Nutrition Standards for School Food, along with information about junk food marketing, labelling, and the crisis in children’s diets.
The Great Grub Club. has a new section for teachers with useful resources and information. The website is aimed at 4-7 year olds and strives to encourage healthy eating and an active lifestyle in a fun and informative way. The website is produced by World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF UK), a UK charity dedicated to the prevention of cancer through the promotion of healthy diet and nutrition, physical activity and weight management.
Healthy Snacks
Toast and Snacks
Toast may be purchased during morning break at 20p per slice with a maximum of two slices per child payable via parentpay. Children may wish to bring in fruit from home to eat during this time. However, in line with the school’s healthy school status, we do not allow such snacks as sweets, crisps or chocolate.
Fruit and vegetables
We are involved in the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme. Every child in Foundation and Key Stage 1 is encouraged to have an extra piece of fruit or vegetable each day. This is distributed either in the classroom or outside during the morning break. Children may bring their own fruit in from home.
Drinking
Milk (Infant children only)
As a school we recognise that milk makes a vital contribution to a child’s dietary needs. The EU continues to subsidise milk for children up to their 5th birthday. After that Key Stage 1 children have the choice of having milk at a subsidised cost. All Foundation and Key Stage 1 children are encouraged to have milk but those who do not wish to have milk have a drink of water instead. If you wish for your child to have mid-morning milk please contact the school office for more information about our Cool Milk scheme.
Water
Children are encouraged to drink plenty of water throughout the day. Water bottles may be purchased from any supermarket and can be refilled from the water cooler in the corridor. We recommend the water bottles with the ‘push-up’ tops as screw tops can lead to spillages and ruined work books!
Free School Meals/Pupil Premium
All infant children can now have a free school meal every day.
However there are families of children in the infants and juniors who qualify for FREE SCHOOL MEALS and PUPIL PREMIUM FUNDING; this money will be used for the benefit of your child, for example, receiving extra support in school; helping to pay for educational visits/after school clubs
For a quick and easy way to find out if you qualify for FREE SCHOOL MEALS/PUPIL PREMIUM contact the Pupil Access Team on 01772 533608; it is completely confidential.