School Meals        

All of our meals are cooked on-site by our talented and hard-working catering team. We provide a 'family meal' service, encouraging good table manners and conversation. All children sit together to eat their lunch, whether having a packed lunch or a school dinner.

Allergies/intolerances - if your child has any food allergies or intolerances, please contact the school office. For complex needs, a meeting with our Catering Manager can be arranged.

Please have a look at our menus (see 'menus & pre-booking' page), which are changed termly and run on a 3-week cycle.

 

Lower School (KS1)

Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) - all children in KS1 qualify for a school dinner at no cost to the parent/carer or you may wish to provide your own packed lunch (or a combination of school dinners/own packed lunches). 

If you are a low-income family and receiving certain benefits, you may be entitled to Free School Meal vouchers during the Christmas and Summer school holidays, (the government introduced these during the pandemic), which can be used to purchase food from a range of supermarkets. To find out if you are eligible, please read the criteria at the bottom of the page.

All children in receipt of benefits based Free School Meals help the school as we are able to apply for more funding from central government (Pupil Premium), to provide valuable support like extra tuition, additional teaching staff or after school activities.

Upper School (KS2)

Children in years 3, 4, 5 and 6 are required to pay for school meals at a cost of £2.35 per day/per child, unless you are a low-income family and entitled to Free School Meals - see below. Payment should be made on the School Gateway either in advance or on the day the meal is taken.

Click here for the link to the School Gateway app.

Free School Meals

If you are a low-income family, you may be eligible for Free School Meals (see below). Please contact the school office as we are now able to do a quick check on your behalf to see if you meet the criteria. You no longer need to apply through Essex County Council and will not be able to do so from April 2021.

      Free School Meal eligibility criteria - are you in receipt of any of the following:

• Income Support
  
• Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
  
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Child Tax Credit (not Working Tax Credit), with an annual income below £16,190
  
• The guaranteed element of the Pension Credit
  
• Employment and Support Allowance, income related
  
• Support under part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act, 1999
  
• Working Tax Credit run-on, paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
  
• Universal Credit, with a household income of £7,400 or less (after tax and not including any benefits you get)

If you need any further information or have any queries regarding school meals, Free School Meals or Free School Meal vouchers, please contact Mrs Wills in the office.

Email address: yvonne.wills@brightlingsea.essex.sch.uk