School Lunches
Lunches for Children at Crabbs Cross Academy
As you may be aware the government announced that from September 2014 every child in Reception and Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2) is entitled to a free school lunch. Once your child is in Key Stage 2 there will be a daily charge.
For families that are entitled to Pupil Premium children will receive school lunches free of charge for as long as they are entitled to receive this benefit. It also means that you may get free school trips and clubs. If you think you may be entitled to receive this benefit please visit www.gov.uk/apply-free-school-meals to check your eligibility.
We are working hard to ensure that our school lunches are both tasty and healthy as well as making lunchtime’s fun for everyone. Remember children who eat more healthily perform better academically.
All the hot food is prepared freshly at our sister school The Vaynor and brought to Crabbs Cross Academy daily.
Your child can decide at lunch time what they would like to eat from the menu and they also have a daily option of Jacket Potato with a filling of cheese or tuna and a salad bar. They also have a choice of two desserts.
If your child has any allergies or dietary requirements please let us know and we can discuss a suitable alternative.
At school we would like to ask parents/carers to support and help us by ensuring that their child is booked in for all school meals required. The school receives funding for actual meals taken, so the kitchen will only produce enough dinners for the expected number of children. We are not able to cook a meal for your child if they are not booked in.
We use the Arbor Parent Portal as our payment system here at Crabbs Cross Academy. This system will allow you to book lunches in advance. You will only need to make payment for the lunches once your child is in key stage 2.
We require the hot lunch booking to be made on the Arbor Parent Portal for each day that it is required. This is so we can gauge how much food to prepare each day. You can book meals for the whole academic year in advance, so it is up to you whether you make bookings for the whole year/term/half-term/weekly/daily basis. If you book daily you must book by 12pm on the day before the meal is required e.g. a meal for Tuesday must be booked by 12pm on Monday. Any amendments can be made but must be done by 12pm on the day before the meal. Any bookings not received in time will mean that you will need to send your child with a packed lunch.
If your child is bringing a packed lunch from home, please could we request no fizzy drinks, no glass bottles and no cans. Chocolate and sweets are not allowed, although chocolate biscuit bars e.g., ‘penguins’ are. We would, however, like you to consider healthy food choices which limit the amount of salt, sugar and fats in your child’s diet. On no account should a child bring in nuts or anything containing nuts as we do have children with nut allergies, which mean even smelling nuts can cause a severe reaction. Also, if your child brings a yoghurt, could you please supply a spoon.
If you have any problems booking the lunches on the Arbor Parent Portal or activating your account please do not hesitate to speak to the school office who will be happy to assist you.
Please click on the link for some instructions on how to book lunches on the Arbor Parent Portal.
If you need to pay for your child's lunches, please click on the link to see instructions on how to top up your child's meal account.
We are available to help you set up your account in the office if you do encounter any problems.
We thank you in advance for your co-operation with this.
Many thanks
Crabbs Cross School Office