School Meals
At The Meads we understand the importance of school meals for children, both for physical needs and also as a key part of the educational process. We encourage all children to enjoy school meals, to allow them to benefit from a wide choice of food options and at the same time to have the chance to develop the social skills associated with eating with friends. Our school meals are created with the children’s development in mind. We aim for mealtime to be a positive educational experience where children can enjoy eating and conversing while learning the benefits of eating healthily and getting the energy needed to cope with the physical and mental demands of the school day.
Our on-site catering provider, Relish, create popular, nutritious and exciting school meals at The Meads Primary School, using seasonal produce with menus designed to meet the needs of every child. Each meal is prepared on a daily basis with a variety of options including vegetarian and Halal.
(See as well: The School Food Plan)
A rolling three week menu rota is in place and runs as follows:
To see our three week menu please click here
How does it work?
Children in all Year groups choose their meal option each morning in class with younger children receiving support from their class teacher including visual prompts and easy to understand descriptions of each food choice on offer. Those will specific dietary requirements are unable to choose foods that they should not eat. We have found that children, even in the youngest year groups, are remarkably self-sufficient and actually thrive when given a degree of responsibility and autonomy for their choices.
The meal choices are then sent to the kitchen where our staff can be sure each child is receiving the meal option they chose as well as accommodating special dietary requirements where appropriate.
Relish have a page on their website called 'Parent Portal'. Here you will be able to see menus and recipes and also allergen information. Please see www.relishschoolfood.co.uk/parents
How much does it cost?
All children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are entitled to a Universal Infant Free School Meal and there is no cost for them to take a meal.
For children in Years 3-6 the cost of the school meal is currently £2.55 per day or £12.75 weekly. Payment should be made in advance, online via your child’s personalised Scopay account, details of which are provided to each parent when their child joins The Meads.
You can log on to Scopay by clicking on this link - https://www.scopay.com/login.html
Free school meals are available to the children of families in receipt of specific benefit payments. If you think you may be eligible for free school meals, please speak to the school office who can help with information and applications. We regret that it is not possible to allow meals on credit. Failure to pay in advance may result in your child being refused a meal.
(See as well: Free School Meals)
Special Diets
Menus can be provided for any child with special dietary requirements. Please contact the kitchen manager to discuss this. The menu for your child will then be planned to eliminate the reported allergens. It will be as nutritionally balanced as possible and as close to the standard menu as their dietary needs will allow, whilst remaining just as delicious.
(Please note: the kitchen is a nut free environment and every precaution is taken to eliminate cross contamination with all allergens. However, we cannot guarantee 100% allergen free)
What if my child would prefer a packed lunch?
To support our children with various nut allergies, we are a nut-free school and we also ask that you support us in helping your child to make healthy choices and keep sweets, chocolates, crisps etc. down to a minimum. If you would prefer, Relish may be able to offer a packed lunch option.
For obvious health and safety reasons please do not send your child to school with thermos flasks, glass bottles or anything which easily breaks.
(See as well: Packed Lunches)
