Lunchtime
At St Joseph’s, we encourage children to drink plenty of water throughout the day, and each child is asked to bring a water bottle to school with them. Fresh, filtered water, is available for children to refill their bottles, and also at lunchtimes.
Children in Reception and KS1, are provided with a free piece of fruit or a vegetable (i.e. tomato, carrot, banana, apple) at break time each day. This is provided by the DCFS free fruit scheme. Older children are encouraged to bring in a piece of fruit for morning break. Years 5 and 6, also have the opportunity to buy toast and snacks at morning break time.
We work very hard to help our children to be aware of the importance of eating healthily.
Our school lunches are provided by Cityserve, and are cooked onsite by our lovely Cooks. The current weekly price for a two-course meal can be found in our Prospectus.
Our school dinner menu follows a three-week cycle. You can see some sample menus below:
School meals are designed to give your child a healthy and balanced selection of food to choose from each day. Our menu is not halal, but we do provide a vegetarian option every day. On Fridays, we do not have meat, but have vegetarian and fish options for children. Every day your child can help themselves to fresh bread and salad from the salad bar in addition to their meal.
If you are entitled to certain benefits, you may be entitled to receive free school meals for your child. To see if you are eligible, please come into the school office, or complete the form on our Policies and Documents page.
Please note that if you receive Working Families Tax Credits, you are not entitled to free school meals.
We have a system at St Joseph’s whereby you can also apply for free school meals online. The database will check your eligibility straight away with various agencies and notify you of the outcome. Apply at the FSM Checking Service website.
You will need your National Insurance number, date of birth, and also the same details for your partner. If your claim is successful, school will be notified that you are eligible.
At present, a Government Initiative means that all children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 can receive a free school meal, regardless of entitlement.
If your child brings their own packed lunch, we would ask that you follow a few simple rules to ensure that lunches are healthy:
- We do not allow sweets, chocolate or chocolate covered cakes or bars in packed lunches.
- We do not allow any nuts or food containing nuts in school
- Your child should bring plain water or juice. We do not allow fizzy or sugary drinks in school.
- Please ensure that your child knows not to share any of their packed lunch with others or take items from another child. This is especially important as we have a number of children who suffer from food allergies.
Breakfast Club
At St Joseph’s School, we provide a Breakfast Club which is open to all of our children.
We provide quality care for children who attend our school. Breakfast Club staff also have other roles within the school and children know them well.
To ensure that we provide affordable care for parents, the cost of attending Breakfast Club is just £1.50 per child per day which includes breakfast. Your child can choose from toast, cereal, beans on toast, juice and milk.
Attending Breakfast Club
If you wish your child to attend Breakfast Club, let the school office know. You will be asked to fill in a form.
Entrance is via the side door in the car park, and there is a bell to ring for admittance. Breakfast Club must be paid for in cash, every morning or in advance.
You can bring your child into school at 7.45am and the last admittance will be at 8.30am. Children are supervised until school begins at 8.45am, where they are sent to their classrooms.
