School Dinners

As of Autumn Term 2023 our school meals will continue in-house and be provided by the new ATLP catering team alongside Relish catering. At the ATLP, we believe that school dinners are a vital part of the school day and will continue to be cooked on site. Dinners are prepared throughout the morning by our school cook, Tina, and her assistant cook, Marcella, and served in our school hall. Our lunchtime is 12pm – 1pm and food is served within this time.

All pupils in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2 in primary schools are entitled to ‘universal’ free school meals. Children may opt for a cold meal option, a hot meal or vegetarian hot meal option or a jacket potato with a choice of 2 fillings from: butter, tuna, beans and cheese.

Menus may alter from term to term as the ATLP observe, reflect and adapt through this period of improvement.

Menus will run on a 3 week rotation:

Week 1 – 3 Sample Menus

Please note that the menu may be altered from time to time; parents are advised to check with the school cook if necessary.

School meals  cost £2.70 per day and you should order your child’s meal through the Relish portal. School meal funds should be topped up in your My Child at School app (MCAS) or through the Relish portal (which diverts to MCAS for dinner money payments). It is expected that sufficient funds will be in the school dinner money account before the meal is ordered or taken.

You must select your child’s lunch for the week, the week before. With Relish you can now order up to a term in advance. We encourage you to do this with your child, so they know the kinds of meals they will be eating and have their say in trying new foods. If your child tries something new, they will be positively praised by our lunchtime supervisors. Should your child not like the new foods they’ve tried, lunch supervisors will inform class teachers so the message can get back to you to not order that option again for your child. If meals are not pre-booked, children will automatically get the jacket potato option.

Children will be asked to show their trays to a lunchtime supervisor before moving onto their pudding. This is to ensure that children are eating enough of their main and for us to ensure they are getting the right amount of food/energy to have a successful afternoon of learning. Should we have concerns, a member of staff will get in touch so we can work together to ensure your child’s needs are being met.

Free School Meals                           

Families who receive the following are eligible for free school meals:

• income support
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• income-related employment and support allowance (ESA)
• guarantee element of state pension credit
• Universal Credit (with an annual income of less than £7,400)
• Both income-based and contribution-based JSA/ESA if you receive the same amount for both. You should also qualify if you receive both but the income-based amount is greater, but not if the contribution-based amount is greater.
• Families who are awarded Child Tax Credit and have an annual income, as assessed by HMRC, not in excess of £16,190 are also eligible to claim free school meals providing there is no entitlement to Working Tax Credit (unless in respect of a 4-week ‘run-on’).

If you receive a qualifying benefit, free school meals are available for:

• Pupils at any school maintained by the authority (including a sixth form attached to a maintained school).
• Pupils attending maintained nurseries, as long as they are attending before and after lunch. Free school meals are not available to children attending private nurseries.

Please visit the ‘Pupil Premium’ section on our web-site to make an application for free school meals.