School Meals
We believe that school dinners are a driver for improvement and our approach to lunch times reflects this attitude. With this in mind, Harehills Primary School has completely changed our lunchtimes. We now have a family service and pupils have roles and responsibilities.
The whole school has been on board to support the changes and our School Food Ambassadors have played a key role. This includes a delicious new Halal menu cooked on the premises by our talented catering team. The school meals service provides a well-balanced meal on a daily basis. The school dinners cater for the dietary requirements of all our children and allow them a great choice of menu.
Cost
Free school meals are given to eligible families.
School meals for all children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are completely FREE. This will provide a saving to families.
Families who are in receipt of the following benefits are entitled to free school meals:
- Universal Credit (and your net combined household income is less than £7,400 a year after tax)
- Income Support, Pension Guarantee Credit, Income Based Jobseekers Allowance
- Income Related Employment Support Allowance
- Child Tax Credit with an annual income of less than £16,190, provided they are not receiving Working Tax Credit.
- Asylum Support under Part V1 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
Please note: People receiving Working Tax Credit, regardless of their income level, do not qualify.
Education Providers can claim additional funds per year to spend on supporting your child’s learning.
Harehills Primary School will work in partnership with you to carefully consider the learning and development needs of your child and use the additional funding to support them with the following areas:
- Personal, social and emotional development
- Communication and language
- Physical development
- Literacy
For children in Years 3 to 6, the price is £14.75 per week (£2.95 per day).
Dinner money payment is made through the Arbor App or Arbor website.
New Menu, New Choice
In our school we serve two meal choices each day, one of which is a vegetarian meal, plus a jacket potato option. Each meal includes a main course, vegetables and salad, pudding of the day or fruit or yoghurt and chilled water. The menu works on a 3 week rota, which you can see by clicking the menu below.
All meat used in our menus is Halal.
Meals are freshly made every day using great quality produce:
- Fresh vegetables and potatoes, locally when in season
- UK farm assured chicken, beef and lamb
- Free range eggs from East Yorkshire
- 100% salmon and white fish fillet from sustainable sources
- Dolphin friendly tuna
- Choice UK cheddar
Menus are designed to provide healthy, balanced meals which will be enjoyed by children and meet the Government guidelines for school meals. All medical and religious diets are catered for.
Packed Lunches
A child at school should have about a third of their daily nutrient requirements at lunchtime. This means they need food that are going to provide them with enough energy, protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals.
A healthy packed lunch should contain a mix of foods from the Eat Well Plate. The NHS EatWell Guide shows how much should be eaten from each of the 5 food groups.
A good packed lunch contains:
- A starchy food, such as bread, rolls, pitta bread, naan bread, potatoes, rice, noodles.
- These foods are good for children to fill up on.
- A good source of protein, iron and zinc such as meat, fish, beans, nuts or eggs.
- A good source of calcium such as milk, cheese, yoghurt or fromage frais.
- And one portion of fruit and one portion of vegetable or salad to provide all the other vitamins and minerals. A piece of fruit could be a 100% juice or piece of fresh fruit, dried fruit or tinned fruit in fruit juice. A piece of vegetable could be a fresh vegetable such as carrot stick, salad or a vegetable soup or vegetable dish.
No single food contains all the essential nutrients the body needs to be healthy and function efficiently so it is important that the content of the packed lunch is varied.
For more information on healthy eating, have a look at the Change 4 Life website.
Milk
Children in the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 are provided with a third of a pint of milk each day. Parents are asked to pay £58 per year for their child’s milk through the CoolMilk website. Families in receipt of free school meals and children under the age of five do not have to pay for this.
Fruit
A portion of fresh fruit is given to all children in Foundation and Key Stage 1.