School Meals
School Meal Provisions at St. Mark's
An excellent healthy school meal is served each day with a choice of three meal options. Our cook and her staff are employed by the school and consequently we are able to control the food served more effectively. This has given us increased flexibility in ensuring the service given to all our pupils is only of the highest quality. The headteacher is closely involved with the menus on offer.
All our pupils eat in the school hall.
For Nursery children the meal is compulsory and acts as training in social skills.
Please note - From 1st January 2023 there will be a 10p increase in the cost of a school meal from £2.10 to £2.20 per day (£11.00 per week) for paying pupils in Nursery and Key Stage 2 (Years 3 – 6). For more information please click on the link below:
School dinners are now free for all children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2.
Key Stage 2 children have a choice. They may have a school meal or bring a packed lunch. Children who bring a packed lunch may buy a drink which cost 35p.
It should be noted that with a packed lunch neither bottles nor flasks are allowed - for health and safety reasons. Children are not permitted to bring sweets or chocolate bars to school.
Lunch Menus
With the help of the children, Ms Cunliffe (our cook) has designed a menu that will be on a 3 weekly rota. Please see below for details:
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WEEK 1 Monday Chicken tikka curry served with boiled rice & naan bread or chicken & vegetable stew with dunky bread slices. Tuesday Cheesey pasta bake (tuna optional) served with crusty wholemeal baguette, chopped fresh salad. Wednesday Homemade meat and potatoes pie, served with cauliflower & broccoli florets, beetroot and gravy. Thursday Sausage (or veggie sausage) served with fresh mashed potato, mixed veg and gravy. Friday Chicken burger in a bun, with oven chips and fresh salad or sweet corn. |
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WEEK 2 Monday Spaghetti Bolognaise, garlic bread slices and fresh salad Tuesday Sliced chicken, roast potatoes, carrots, Yorkshire pudding and gravy. Wednesday Chicken wraps with golden vegetables rice, sweetcorn or salad. Thursday Gammon ham boiled new potatoes garden peas. Friday Salmon fish cake, served with oven chips, beans or sweetcorn. |
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WEEK 3 Monday Chicken curry, boiled rice and naan bread or chicken & vegetable stew with bread. Tuesday Fish Fingers served with fresh mashed potato and beans. Wednesday Herby diced hotpot served with green beans and gravy. Thursday Meatball pasta, served with garlic bread and chopped salad. Friday Margherita pizza with oven cooked potato wedges and chopped salad. |
Free School Meals
Packed Lunch
Children may choose to bring a packed lunch to school rather than have a school meal. We believe that a healthy packed lunch can contribute to the health of children and young people and needs to be consistent with the nutritional standards provided by school meals.
Click on the links below for ideas on healthy packed lunches:
- Lunchbox ideas and recipes – Healthier Families - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
- lunchbox_leaflet_10-11-16.pdf (primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com)
Toast
The children can buy a healthy slice of toast each morning at playtime if they wish. This is a great fund raising activity to boost our school funds.
From September 2022 we are changing the number of times toast money is collected. We will now ask parents to pay at the start of a full term rather than a half term, so this will mean only 3 payments per year. The cost per term will be £15.00 and is payable through the online Parent Pay system.
School Milk
Up to the term in which they are five, school milk (one third pint) is supplied to children free of charge. After that, for children who wish to continue having school milk, milk can be payed for before the start of each new full term. The cost for Autumn 2022 term is £11.95 and is payable through the online Parent Pay system. We give plenty of notice that payment is due and it is parent’s responsibility to ensure that payment has been made. No milk will be provided without payment and only in very exceptional circumstances will we accept late payment. We cannot change our milk order on a daily basis.
NB: You only need to pay for milk once your child turns 5, you will be contacted once your child turns 5.
School Fruit Scheme
As part of The National Fruit Scheme every child in our Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 class is entitled to a free piece of fresh fruit each school day. The overall goal is to increase fruit and vegetable consumption among children. We encourage our Key Stage 2 children to bring fruit as an afternoon snack.