Children may choose each day to have either a packed lunch or a school dinner. Some children like to eat school dinners every day, whilst others like to examine the menu first and book their lunches accordingly.

Children order a school lunch at morning registration.

At lunchtime, each year group is called from the playground in turn, and they line up at the servery and collect the dinner they have ordered - either a choice of hot meals, including vegetarian option, or a sandwich or wrap. They sit at long tables, and our Lunchtime Leaders encourage them to eat their food, adopt good table manners, and enjoy the social aspect of dining together without too much noise or mess.

School dinners

Our catering contractors, AiP (part of Sodexo), provide a choice of hot meals and salad every day. All of their meals are prepared according to the latest nutritional standards, using fresh produce, and avoiding unhealthy additives such as salt and sugar. They cater for any special dietary requirements. Every day there are three choices, including at least one vegetarian option, and children can always help themselves to salad. There is always fresh fruit available as well as a dessert choice.  More information is available here

We are proud to support Meat-Free Mondays, so don't offer meat options on Mondays.

Packed lunches

Children may bring their own packed lunch, or they may order our school packed lunch option.

We ask parents to think about the nutritional content of the packed lunches they provide, but we do not impose restrictions. We encourage children to think about healthy food choices.

Some of our children have food allergies, the most common being nut allergies. We ask parents not to include obvious nut-based products in the packed lunches they provide, but as we cannot guarantee that all elements of every child's lunch will be free of nut traces, we ask children not to share their lunches with their friends.

Drinks provided with packed lunches should not be packed with sugar and additives. Fruit juice or water, but no fizzy drinks and no products marketed as "energy drinks".

Snacks

Children may bring a healthy snack, such as a cereal bar or a piece of fruit, to eat at morning break time. Sweets and chocolate are not allowed, and chewing gum is a definite No!

We encourage all children to bring a water bottle to school, which may be refilled at any time from the taps in the classrooms. We ask children to use practical bottles on which they can write their name: something that will not break or make a loud noise when it falls off the desk! Please do not use empty branded product bottles, such as Prime, as we need to be sure that the contents are appropriate for school.

Children with food allergies

Our catering team can provide safe menus for children with food allergies.  If your child has a food allergy, please let us know by completing the Allergy Notification and Medical Diet Request form below and returning this to the school office.

FREE SCHOOL MEALS

In Reception, Year 1 and Year 2, all children are entitled to free school meals (Universal Infant Free School Meals). This scheme does not extend to Key Stage 2, so from Year 3 your child is no longer automatically entitled to a free meal, unless you have registered with the Free School Meals service.

If you think you may be eligible for free school meals and you know that you have not previously registered, please click on the link below. If you register it does not mean that your child has to have a school dinner every day; you can provide a packed lunch whenever you want to.

You can apply for free school meals and Pupil Premium if you get any of these benefits:

• Universal Credit if your household income is less than £7,400 a year or £616.67 a month after tax
• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (as long as 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 four weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)
• Support under Part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999

Schools receive additional funding for every child on roll who is eligible, or has been eligible at any time in the previous six years, for Free School Meals. This funding is used to provide additional support for children. More information about how this could benefit your child is linked here.

Apply online (this is the quickest and easiest way to apply):

https://www.bristol.gov.uk/schools-learning-early-years/free-school-meals

Apply by paper – please contact the school office for an application form

If you have any questions please contact the Free School Meals team:

Email: free.school.meals@bristol.gov.uk