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 4th January 2024 there will be a 10p increase in the cost of a school meal from £2.20 to £2.30 per day (£11.50 per week) for paying pupils in Nursery and Key Stage 2 (Years 3 – 6).
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 50p.
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. Click on the icon below to find out what the new lunch menu is from 28th October 2024.
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 2023 term is £13.98 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.