School Meals

Our catering is provided by Hertfordshire Catering who have many years’ experience and provide a top quality service at reasonable prices.  We are able to provide a service that suits our customers’ ever changing needs.

We believe that food is not only an essential part of everyday living, but should be an enjoyable nutritional educational experience, held within a social circle.

We cater for all kinds of nutritional needs, including special diets. If your child requires a special diet, please make us aware of their specific needs.

Meal of the Day

We provide daily a choice of a main meal and a pudding. We also offer meal deals. For example, jacket potato and filling, pasta dish or hot meal with either a pudding, a piece of fruit or a chiller deal. Fresh water is available from the various dispensers around the school.

Free School Meals

Your child may be eligible for 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: Provided you are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and your annual income does not exceed £16,190.
• Working Tax Credit run-on: Paid for four weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit.
• Universal Credit: Provided your annual net earned income is no more than £7,400 (after tax and not including any benefits you receive).

Additional Eligibility Information:

• Direct Recipients: Children who receive these benefits directly, rather than through a parent or guardian, are also eligible.
• Early Years: Your child may qualify if you receive any of the benefits above and your child is both under the compulsory school age and in full-time education.
• No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF): If you do not qualify for most benefits, your child may still be eligible. Please contact the school or your local authority to discuss your specific circumstances.

How to Apply

To check your eligibility and apply, please visit the official government portal: https://www.gov.uk/apply-free-school-meals

Live Register System

We use the Live Register cashless catering system which enables lunches to be paid for in advance. This helps us to serve food more quickly and reduce the time that students spend queueing for their food. Initially we will set a limit on the daily spend per student of £6.00 although this can be varied by request.

We have chosen the Live Register system as this uses the latest biometric technology to scan a student’s finger. This generates a unique number to identify your child and allows them to spend the money that you have put on their cashless account. The finger scan image is not stored and cannot be used by any other system; it is a very simple process.

Funds are loaded on to the student’s account using ParentPay, an online secure site that you can access via our website once students have started with us. No cash can be taken in the canteen at any time.