Healthy Eating, School Meals and Allergies

School Meals

Herts Catering Limited (HCL) provides our school meals with our School Cook, Mrs Gilbert, leading the team of staff providing healthy and nutritious meals.  Please use the link below to view our menu.

Current menu

Please ensure you have enough credit on your child’s  account each week for them to have their school dinner.  The cost of a school meal is £3.40 per day (as at 16th April 2024).

Please click here to access your Arbor Parent Portal account to settle balances or put credit on your child’s account. 

Special Allergy/Intolerance Menu

If your child will be having a school meal, but has a diagnosed allergy or intolerance, then you will need to apply for a special menu via our catering provider, Herts Catering Ltd. Click here to apply https://specialmenu.hcl.co.uk/

Please let the school office know once you have applied for this menu.

Payment Reminder

Please can parents/carers ensure that they keep their son/daughters dinner money account in credit at all times. Payment for school meals must be made in advance. If there is no money on your child’s account you will be contacted by the School Office and asked to either provide a packed lunch or to collect your child and take them home for lunch, returning them for the afternoon session. 

As you will be aware our preferred method of payment is via the Arbor Parent Portal.  However, should you need to pay by cash please put this in a sealed envelope with your son/ daughter’s name/class clearly marked.

As a school we do not provide free lunches; it is your parental responsibility to provide food for your child either through paying for a school dinner or providing a packed lunch.

Free School Meals

The school cannot provide free meals unless you are entitled (and have applied) for Free School Meals via Herts County Council. You can find out more information by clicking here: hertfordshire.gov.uk

Registering for free school meals could also raise an extra £1,320 for our school to fund valuable support like extra tuition, additional teaching staff or after school activities.  This additional money is available from central government for every child whose parent is receiving benefits. If you have an annual income of less than £16,190 please get in touch with the school office who will help you find out if you are eligible.  Once in receipt of free school meals there may be other benefits available for you too.

Packed Lunches

You may send your child with a healthy packed lunch option if you prefer. We ask that you avoid sugary/salty snacks and provide reusable plastic containers to keep waste to a minimum. The lunch should be packed in a suitable container labelled with your child’s name and class. Drinks should not be in cans or glass bottles. Carbonated drinks are not allowed.  

To encourage healthy life-styles, packed lunches should not contain chocolate bars or sweets.  

Many children have allergies and, as such, children are not permitted to share items from their lunch. Woolenwick, along with all Hertfordshire schools are a nut free school.  We ask parents not to include nuts or products containing nuts in their child’s packed lunch as we have a number of children with potentially life-threatening nut allergies.

It is just as important to make sure the lunchbox your child takes to school is  healthy and balanced. This means plenty of foods that contain the nutrients that children need and fewer foods that are high in sugar and saturated fat.  A balanced packed lunch should contain:

Starchy foods – bread, rice, potatoes, pasta and others
Protein foods – meat, fish, eggs, beans and others
A dairy item – cheese or yoghurt
Vegetables or salad and a portion of fruit

Mid-morning Snack

All children are offered a free piece of fruit at break-time each day (banana, apple or satsuma). If you do wish to send your child with a snack from home we would ask that this is a healthy snack only (fruit, cereal bar etc) and would ask that you avoid biscuits, chocolate, crisps etc. No snacks should contain nuts.

Snack Token Service

This is offered by our kitchen.  Purchased tokens can be exchanged each break-time. for a piece of toast with spread/cheese, and on occasions crumpets/muffins may be offered

Parents/carers can buy snack tokens on the Arbor Parent Portal in books of 10 at £5.50 per book. Each day the office will check who has purchase a book(s) and send these home with your child in an envelope. Please write your child’s name on the back of each token and only give them a token on the day(s) that you need them to have one. You can give your child a token every day if you wish or just on some days. They do not have an expiry date. We would prefer if the children did not keep the tokens in their class draws, as they have a monetary value, and that their name is written on each token.

Milk

Should you wish for your child to have milk at break time each day please go to the Cool Milk website – click here – where you can register and pay for this service. Milk is then delivered directly to the school and the school office print lists each weeks of pupils who are having milk.

Pupils who are identified as Pupil Premium children will be offered milk for free.

Drinks

All children are encouraged to drink plenty of water during the day, therefore, please supply your child with a reusable (named) water bottle, preferably with a sports top. This must ONLY contain water, NO juices. If you wish to put pieces of fresh fruit in the water this is acceptable.  The children will be allowed to take drinks of water at appropriate times, but not when it might disrupt the learning of others. Staying hydrated helps children concentrate on their learning.

Curriculum, Teaching and Learning

Our children are given the opportunity to taste, touch, smell and feel a variety of foods.

Multicultural aspects of food are explored and linked with school meal theme days.

Teachers link healthy eating/food to all areas of the curriculum.

Parental Involvement

Information about school catering is available at parent evenings, school newsletters etc.  Feedback from parents is always welcome.