School Meals

School Dinner Menu - Winter 2023/2024

Lunchtime at The Discovery School

Lunchtimes are an important time of the day at The Discovery School. We want to ensure that are children are fed nutritious food, so that they can stay as healthy as they can and ready for their learning in the afternoon. Play is also equally as important for the children and we have a dedicated team of Lunchtime Supervisors who set up and supervise a range of activities for the children to take part in. These range from craft activities, a range of games and also a nurture group. Our children are able to access either a hot cooked meal during the school day or bring in a packed lunch from home. Below is guidance about both of these lunches and how you can ensure your child gets the correct lunch they require. 

School Dinners

Our hot lunches are provided by Caterlink. We have a modern, clean kitchen with a fantastic team of cooks (Caterlink team of the year 2019) who cook meals on site. They are able to cater for a range of dietary needs for our children and frequently speak with the children about what they like and dislike on the menu to ensure that they provide food which is tasty and nutritious.  The cooks are also supported by the Lunchtime Supervisors who support and encourage the children with their eating. 

Children in Early Years Foundation Stage and KS1 (Years 1 and 2) are entitled under the government scheme of receiving free hot school meal every day. When children enter into KS2 (Years 3 –6) they are required to pay towards the dinners, unless they are entitled to free lunches.

The current cost of a school meal for KS2 is £2.55 a day or £12.75 a week. You can pay for this online by visiting your child’s school gateway account here.

You can also contact Caterlink directly by clicking here, should you have a question or concern around the meals being provided.

 

Packed Lunches

If you choose for your child not to have a school dinner, children can also have a packed lunch from home. We ask that your child’s lunch box is as healthy as possible so that the children are getting the right amount of nutrition that they need for their learning in the afternoons.

Below is what we suggest are the right food groups for a healthy lunchbox.

  • Starchy foods like bread, rice, potatoes or pasta.
  • Protein foods like meat, fish, eggs or beans.
  • A dairy item, like cheese or yogurt.
  • Vegetables or salad and a portion of fruit.
     

From Monday to Thursday children are not allowed to bring in foods which are high in fats and sugar. However on Fridays, children who are having packed lunch are allowed as a treat, to bring in a bag of crisps and/or a chocolate biscuit.

If you are looking for some suggestions for healthy lunch boxes, then the government website Change 4 Life, have many ideas. Click on the link below to access more ideas.

https://www.nhs.uk/change4life/recipes/healthier-lunchboxes

The BBC Good Food Guide also has some inspiration for packed lunches too.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/school-packed-lunch-inspiration

No Nuts

At The Discovery School, we have always been a nut free school. This is because we have many children and staff who are allergic to nuts and could end up in a life threatening condition. Below is guidance on how to ensure that any food that is brought into school including: packed lunches, party food and birthday treats/sweets; are nut free. Our staff will periodically check lunch boxes and any food brought into school to ensure that it does not contain nuts. If it does, the food will be removed and taken to the School Office for you to pick it up after school.

Below is guidance for you around nuts. If you are ever concerned if it is the right thing to bring into school, then please contact the school office who will advise you.

If a product says:

  • that it contains nuts or peanuts
  • that it has traces of peanuts
  • that its handled in an environment with peanuts

then it will be removed from lunch boxes and kept in the school office. They can then be collected at the end of the school day. A note will appear in your child's lunch box so that you know that the item has been removed.

If a product says:

  • that it's manufactured in a factory which handles nuts (excluding peanut),

then these are OK in our lunch boxes.