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Meals and Snacks

Snack Time

At 10.20am every day the school has a comfort break for 10 minutes.

Free fruit is provided for children aged 3 – 7. Please send your child 8 years and older with a healthy snack if you wish them to eat something from home at this time.

During comfort break our kitchen staff prepare a warm snack to our pupils. A warm snack costs 20p per day for toast, we request that this is paid for at the beginning of every half term via the Arbor site.  We will send you notification when this option is open to pay.  We are now a cash free Trust.

If your child has any food requirements please contact the school office or speak directly to their class teacher.

Lunch Time

Mealtimes are an important part of the day for children, enabling them to build on all areas of their development.

At St Augustine CE Primary School we aim to provide positive mealtime experiences through

  • providing children with an interesting variety of foods, and allowing them choice in what they eat.
  • allowing children plenty of time to eat and to interact with others, including other children and adults.
  • supporting and encouraging children to help with preparing the eating area, and to assist with serving food and drinks and tidying up after meals.
  • encouraging positive interactions between lunchtime supervisors and children.
  • respecting children’s different appetites and preferences.
  • positively encouraging children to try different foods.

Lunchtimes are:

Nursery – 11.45am until 1.00pm

Reception – 12.00 pm until 1.00pm

Pupils in Years 1 – 6 – 12.30-pm until 1.30pm

Meals are provided by Mellors Catering Company and menus are rotated on a weekly basis. We serve both halal and non-halal food at school. Our menus offer a good selection of hot meals for the children to choose from at lunch time. The current menus are below.

Cost of school meals:

All children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 automatically qualify for Universal Infant Free School Meal (UIFSM) scheme, which is a Government Nationwide Scheme.  There is no application for this.  However, when children transition into Year 3, school meals are charged at £11.75 per week per child.

To make payments for dinners, please visit your child’s Arbor account.  All accounts must be kept up to date. If you do not have an account, please contact the School Office to set one up.  School meals are charged at £2.35 per day, £11.75 per week per child.

Is my child eligible for free school meals? Please visit https://www.cloudforedu.org.uk/ofsm/vantage and complete the online application form.

Food Allergies 

A food allergy is when the body’s immune system reacts unusually to specific foods. Although allergic reactions are often mild, they can be very serious. In the most serious cases, a person has a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis), which can be life threatening.

Most children that have a food allergy will have experienced eczema during infancy. The worse the child’s eczema and the earlier it started, the more likely they are to have a food allergy. It’s still unknown why people develop allergies to food, although they often have other allergic conditions, such as asthmahay fever and eczema.

What are the top 14 food allergens? 

There are 14 major food allergens which need to be mentioned (either on a label or through provided information such as menus) when they are used as ingredients in a food product or meal. However you can be allergic to any food substance.

The top 14 food allergens are:

CeleryCereals containing glutenCrustaceansEggsFish; Lupin; MilkMolluscsMustardTree NutsPeanutsSesame seedsSoya and Sulphur dioxide (sometimes known as sulphites)

It is crucial that any food allergens are reported to school (regardless of whether your child eats school meals) with evidence from the child’s doctor.

If your child does have an allergy, a Mellors allergy pack will need to be completed and, in some cases, an Individual Health Care Plan which details the steps school should take if your child experiences an allergic reaction. As part of this, the school’s catering manager, our SENDCo and/or Designated Safeguarding Lead will meet with parents to agree a food menu for individual pupils with diagnosed allergies.

If you wish to switch your child from packed lunches to school dinners or vice versa please send a letter to the school office or email at staoffice@vantageacademies.co.uk. Changes can only be actioned at the start or end of each half term.

 

St Augustines CE Primary School