Full time pupils have their lunch at school. Families may choose between having a packed lunch provided from home or a hot school meal. Children can ‘mix and match’ each week and can have a school meal on some days and a packed lunch on others, or they can have a school meal every day or a packed lunch every day. Lunch is eaten in the school hall which is set up as a dining hall in the middle of each day.
We use Food and More as our meals provider and they supply the cook and kitchen assistant for the school kitchen. The menu runs on a three weekly basis with a set of nutritionally balanced meals for each of Week 1, Week 2 and Week 3 which then repeats. There is regularly a roast dinner on Wednesday and fish and chips on Friday. There is always a vegetarian option each day which is suitable for halal diets. Any child is able to choose the vegetarian option if they prefer it to the ‘meat’ option. Specific dietary requirements and allergies can be catered for if school is made aware of them in advance. As well as the main meal which is served to the children from the kitchen, children may help themselves to side salad items from the salad trolley in the dining hall. A pudding is served daily with fresh fruit as an alternative.
All children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are entitled to a free school meal (FSM) but they can choose to have a packed lunch from home if that is preferred.
Parents of children in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 will need to pay for each meal taken unless entitled to Free School Meals (FSM) as a result of being in receipt of certain tax credits/benefits. The parent will be asked for certain details (National Insurance number and date of birth) when filling out the detailed enrolment form when your child first starts at the school and these details are used by school to check eligibility for free meals.
We operate a cashless system for paying for lunches (also for trips, visits, workshops, swimming etc.) using a system called ParentPay. When your child first starts at New Hinksey Primary School parents will be issued with a letter explaining the ParentPay system and giving log in details. Every parent is expected to set up an account in ParentPay straight away, whether or not your child will be taking school lunches or whether or not you will be paying for lunches, as there may well be payments for trips or special events that need to be paid for via ParentPay. Also once children are in Year 3 the government scheme of Free School Meals for younger children ceases. The menu is also displayed on ParentPay allowing families to see what meals are coming up and to pre book them.
If your child is bringing a packed lunch from home we encourage a healthy selection of items, packaged or wrapped in a way that your child can handle themselves. We encourage children to eat the ‘main’ item such as sandwich, wrap, roll, pasta salad etc. first along with other savoury or veg/salad items before moving on to more pudding like items such as cookies, cakes, fruit items, yogurts etc. Your child may bring a small packet of crisps or similar as part of their lunch box but only one please. Similarly we do not ban chocolate items from packed lunches but it must only be one chocolate containing item. Sweets and fizzy drinks are not allowed. We strongly recommend fresh water as part of every packed lunch.