St. Mary of the Angels Catholic Primary School

School Lunches

At St. Mary of the Angels we are very proud to have our own in-house catering team who provide a healthy and nutritious staff lunch for pupils and staff. Our Head Cook, Renato Vaccari, and his team to provide a varied three choice, seasonal menu. We source our fresh meat, fish and produce from a variety of suppliers and our salad bar is very popular all year round.

The uptake of school lunches amongst pupils and staff is extremely high compared to take up locally and nationally which we believe is an indication of the quality and variety of the food on offer.

Please note, the lunch menus below are subject to change.

Lunch Menu Autumn 1 (September to 0ctober 2023)

[pdf 138KB]

Food Allergies and Food Intolerance

We recognise that a small number of children can get an allergic reaction or intolerance to a commonly eaten food and we are obviously concerned about this and try to make sure they are served with food which is safe for them to eat. We follow guidance from the Food Standards Agency and we consider that proper communication and exchange of accurate information between everyone concerned is the key area to allow the food allergy or intolerance to be managed in the best interests of these children.

We have to make sure that information regarding the ingredients of any food being served to children is made available. We follow these requirements and keep an up to date ingredient list for each dish produced in the school kitchen so we can identify if any of the fourteen common food allergens are present in the food and the correct choice can be made as to which food those children who have a food allergy or intolerance can safely be served with.

We take all reasonable care and precautions to identify and control the ingredients being used but, there can be no absolute guarantee that any dish will not contain any of the fourteen common food allergens as this can occur as a trace from an ingredient, as a result of the list of ingredients from the supplier not declaring its presence or as a result of accidental cross contamination in the kitchen or counter from something as simple as serving spoons being used for more than one item.

All parents and carers are required to inform the school if their child has a food allergy or food intolerance. We also recommend that a meeting is arranged with the school to identify and confirm the type of food allergy or food intolerance your child has so that the school ensure the severity of the risks involved are understood by everyone.

Allergies Adventure Poster

[pdf 969KB]

Paying for school lunches

As of January 2023, Westminster City Council is providing all pupils in Years 3, 4, 5 & 6 with a free school meal until July 2024 at least. The government continues to fund free school meals for pupils in Reception, Year 1 & Year 2. Therefore the only group of pupils who are charged for a school lunch is Nursery. Lunches are charged at £2.40 per day for pupils (£12 per week). The school is now 'cashless' so all lunch payments must be made online at www.schoolgateway.com To register, you will need to use the email address you have given to the school.

If you think you are eligible for means tested free school meals, you are still encouraged to apply as this entitles your child to access to free holidaty activities where lunches are provided and access to free school meal vouchers in the school holidays (subject to the concil continuing to fund the voucher scheme).

If you have any questions regarding school lunches or encounter problems registering to make payments online, please contact Mrs Conway in the school office by phone or by emailing jconway@stmaryangels.co.uk

For information re eligibility and how to apply for Free School Meals, please go to the Free School Meals section in the Parental Information tab.

Packed Lunches

Packed lunches may be provided by parents/carers for children to eat at lunchtimes. We ask that parents/carers ensure that the food provided is a balanced meal that includes fruit and vegetables. Further guidance on healthy packed lunches can be found below and by clicking here.

No Nuts Policy

As we have some children in school who suffer from a severe nut allergy, all parents and carers are reminded of our school’s ‘No Nuts Policy’. This means that the following items should not be bought into school at any time including in a packed lunch, as an after school snack or in a donation of food items to the school:

Packs of nuts
Peanut butter sandwiches
Nutella/Chocolate Spread sandwiches
Fruit and cereal bars that contain nuts
Chocolate bars or sweets that contain nuts
Sesame seed rolls (children allergic to nuts may also have a severe reaction to sesame)
Cakes made with nuts

We have a policy not to use nuts in any of our food prepared on site at our school. If there are any issues that you feel arise as a result of this policy, please do feel free to contact the school office.

If you wish to move your child from a school lunch to a packed lunch, you must give the school a minimum of one week's notice.

Packed lunches should include:

at least one portion of fruit and one portion of vegetables every day.
meat, fish or other source of non-dairy protein (e.g. lentils, kidney beans, chickpeas, hummus, peanut butter and falafel) every day
oily fish, such as salmon, at least once every three weeks.
a starchy food such as any type of bread, pasta, rice, couscous, noodles, potatoes or other type of cereals every day.
dairy food such as milk, cheese, yoghurt, fromage frais or custard everyday
only water, still or sparkling, fruit juice, semi-skimmed or skimmed milk, yoghurt or milk drinks and smoothies.

Packed lunches should not include:

snacks such as crisps.
confectionery such as chocolate bars, chocolate-coated biscuits and sweets. Cakes and biscuits are allowed but encourage your child to eat these only as part of a balanced meal.

Parents are discouraged from including the following items.

Alternatives are indicated in the right column

Item	As an alternative please include
Snacks such as crisps	Instead, include vegetables and fruit (with no added sugar, salt or fat). Savoury crackers or breadsticks served with fruit, vegetables or dairy food are also a good choice, e.g. cheese spread and crackers.
Confectionary, such as chocolate-coated biscuits and cakes.	Cakes and biscuits are allowed but encourage your child to eat these as part of a balanced meal. Healthier alternatives include a small tub of rice pudding, malt loaf, scone or current bun.
Meat products such as sausage rolls, individual pies, corned meat and sausages/chipolatas.	Choose non-processed alternatives such as chicken drumsticks, pasta salad or mixed salad, or ham and pineapple pizza slice.

Chocolate bars and sweets are not allowed to be taken to or consumed at school for packed lunch or snacks.