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School Meals

The school contracts Aspens to run its school meals service. They provide a three week pupil choice menu system, which meets all the government requirements, providing children with a healthy and balanced diet.

The children who have school meals have 5 options per day and can have fresh bread and salad every day:

  • Meat/Fish option
  • Vegetable option
  • Jacket Potato option
  • Pasta option
  • Cold Sandwich option

Occasionally there are themed lunch days/weeks, we will notify parents of these as they arise.
Children do not need to have a school meal every day, they can choose just certain days. Meals can also be pre chosen from the online system available to parents.  

Children in Key Stage 2 can bring in a ‘Home Packed Lunch’.  Please ensure this provides your child with a nutrious balanced diet over a week.  Please do not pack and fizzy drinks or chocolate bars. Orchard is a nut free school, parents should not pack any food in their child's lunchbox which contains nuts, this includes choclate nut spreads and bars. 

Aspens have provided us with a link to some information from their website that you will find interesting:

https://www.aspens-services.co.uk/about-us/

Universal Free School Meals

All children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are provided with a school meal – FREE of charge under a new government scheme. There is no ‘Home Packed Lunch’ option for these children.

Payment

The cost of a school meal is £2.60 per day, payable in advance to Aspens.

School meals MUST be paid for in advance. You will pay for your meals via "The SwiftKitchen" app. See the school office for more details.

You must choose and pay for your child’s meal before 8:00am each day using the app. You can pre order in advance.

 

Free School Meals

We encourage everyone who is in receipt of the following benefits to apply for ‘Free School Meals’ (FSM):

  • Income Support*
  • Income-based Job Seeker’s Allowance*
  • Income-related Employment Support Allowance*
  • Child Tax Credit, with a taxable income of no more than £16,190 and not in receipt of Working Tax Credit*
  • Pension Credit (Guarantee Credit)*
  • Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999*
  • Child Tax Credit – payable at a rate higher than the family element i.e. £545.34 (this is £1,095.00 if you also have a child under one year old)
  • Working Tax Credit, Housing Benefit, or Council Tax Benefit (not including second adult rebate)
  • Working Tax Credit during the four-week period immediately after employment finishes or after you start to work less than 16 hours per week

* Some help is only available if you receive these specific benefits.

Even if your child prefers to have a packed lunch from home by applying for FSM the school receives a greater amount of funding from the government. Some of this funding can go directly towards your child’s education, whilst at Orchard.

Can you apply for FSM in any one of the following ways: