We consider meal times to be a very important time for children and the children who stay all day join us for lunch. It is a very social affair!
You can either buy a school meal or bring a packed lunch. We are very lucky to have our meals cooked at St Philip’s Marsh Nursery School by a cook from Chartwells and they are extremely healthy and tasty. If your child has any dietary requirements, please let us know in advance.
Your child may be entitled to free school meals if you receive any of the following benefits:
- Income support
- Income-based jobseeker’s allowance
- Income-related employment and support allowance
- Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- The guaranteed element of state pension credit
- Child tax credit (if the family is not also entitled to working tax credit and has an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
- Working tax credit run-on
- Universal credit, if a parent is entitled to universal credit they must have an annual net earned income equivalent to and not exceeding £7,400, assessed on up to 3 of the parent’s most recent universal credit assessment periods.)
An application form can be obtained from the School Office.
Meals cost £2.37 and are paid for using the online payment system ParentPay.
Packed Lunches
If your child is bringing a packed lunch, please remember the following points:
- Clearly label your child’s packed lunch box with their name and key group on the outside of the box.
- As some children have allergies please DO NOT includes nuts or nut products, such as Nutella, in your child’s lunch box.
- The School provides water for all children (freely available all day). Please DO NOT include a drink in your child’s packed lunch. Current dental advice is that children aged 3 to 4 should not drink anything except water from a bottle. Fruit juices or squashes are highly acidic and high in sugar and so cause serious damage to young teeth.
- Remember that many pre-packaged items are adult portion sizes.
- A child portion size is the size of their fist. A child may only need a half a sandwich – made from one slice of bread. A bag of crisps is an adult portion.
- Beware of hidden sugar. The NHS advice is children should have less than 19g a day for children aged 4 to 6 years old (5 sugar cubes or 5 teaspoons. A single miniature pot of yoghurt may have up 3-4 teaspoons of sugar.
- Sweets and chocolate are not permitted because they contain unhealthy amounts of sugar.
- Always include some fruit or fresh vegetables but remember that grapes and small tomatoes are a very common cause of choking in children, and should these be cut in half lengthways.
Click here for a link to some healthy packed lunch ideas.