Children may eat either a school meal (a hot meal or a cold packed lunch meal) purchased at school, or bring their own packed (healthy) lunch. Through the government Universal Infant Free School Meal Scheme (UIFSM) all children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are eligible for a funded (free) meal each day. for KS2 children the cost per meal is £2.70. Children have the opportunity every day to decide if they would like the set meal of the day, an alternative choice or they can still bring a healthy packed lunch from home.
Meals are prepared on the school site and staff work hard to ensure that children’s likes and dislikes are taken into account – please let us know if your child has specific needs (within reason!) regarding their diet.
All children eat in the hall or sports hall with ‘school dinner children’ eating in the hall and ‘packed lunch children’ in the sports hall, so that as far as possible, children may enjoy their lunch with their classmates and friends. Payments for school meals are taken through the school ParentPay system and you can decide whether your child would like a school dinner or packed lunch on a day-to-day basis.
We do encourage parents to apply for free school meals if eligible (ask at the office for further details or click the link below). This is totally confidential and meals are organised in a way that does not identify any child as having a free meal. If you are eligible for this, your child may then have a meal on any day, even if on some days they bring in a packed lunch.
Healthy eating is an important aspect of encouraging children to develop a healthy lifestyle and your help in this area is appreciated. Water is always freely available.
INDIAN QUEENS SCHOOL IS A NUT-FREE SCHOOL
People who suffer from nut allergies can develop a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction.
If someone has a nut allergy it is not just eating nuts that can cause a severe reaction, just being touched on the skin or smelling the breath of someone who has had nuts or a product containing nuts can trigger anaphylactic shock (which can cause breathing and swallowing difficulties). As a school, we have a duty of care to all our children so need to have procedures in place to minimise the risk of a severe allergic reaction occurring.
So please can we ask that you have no nut products in the lunch boxes or brought into the school as treats.
For example:
- Peanut butter sandwiches
- Chocolate spreads
- Cereal bars/granola bars
- Cakes that contain nuts
- Biscuits / Cookies that contain nuts
- Peanut butter cakes
This list is not exhaustive, so please check the packaging of products closely. We appreciate that this is an additional thing to check and we know that you recognise the importance of it. We do have to insist we are a nut free school. If this was your child you would expect that we all help, especially as it is a life-threatening condition.
Thank you for your co-operation and understanding.
Please inform the school if there are medical or cultural reasons why your child should not be offered any specific foods.
