School Meals

Sidegate's Caterers are Edwards and Blake who provide healthy nutritious meals to our pupils.  

Th charge for school meals after October half term is increasing from £2.65 to £2.73. Children in EYFS, Year 1 and Year 2 are entitled to Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM). If your child will be in Year 3 and above from September, please top up their lunch money to enable them to pay for their lunches. 

A cashless system is used and payments must be made through the Arbor Parent Portal or Parent App (see instructions here). Children who are in Year R, Y1 and Y2 are entitled to Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) and do not pay for their school lunch.  Any queries relating to incorrect lunch account balances/debts should be directed by email to mail@sidegate.net. 

You may be entitled to a free school meal if you meet certain criteria. To find out if you are eligible, information is available at http://www.suffolk.gov.uk/freeschoolmeals.  Not sure if you qualify? Apply anyway and the free school meals service will check for you.  Registering for free school meals couldn’t be easier and you can now apply online. Applying for a free school meal does not mean that your child has to have school dinners but it does mean that the school will receive Pupil Premium funding for your child if you successfully apply.  We use an electronic system to capture the data of those children in receipt of a free school meal.  Children collect their meals in the same way others do, by providing their name at the till point.

Allergens - If your child requires a medical diet due to a diagnosed food allergy, diagnosed food intolerance or a medical condition requiring an adapted menu (e.g. carbohydrate count for Type 1 Diabetes), please follow this link to request a medical diet.  

For further support, please refer to the document: ‘Edwards & Blake Medical Diets - A Guide for Parents, Guardians & Carers’. 

Kindly note, you DO NOT need to make a request for dietary preferences, or for the following diets: vegan, pescatarian, vegetarian or halal, as these requirements can be met through our standard menu. 

Snacks 

The Department of Health funds the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme as part of the ‘5 a day’ programme to increase fruit and vegetable consumption. Under the scheme, all KS1 children are entitled to a free piece of fruit or vegetable portion each school day.  

Pupils in year groups 3 and above will need to bring their own healthy snack that is low in salt, sugar and fat. Please make it clear to your child what is their snack and what is their lunch - they will be challenged, if they are not eating a healthy snack. 

Packed Lunches

Children may bring a packed lunch as an alternative to a school dinner. We recommend that you include a cool pack in your child's lunch box. Please could we ask children not to bring in any snacks or packed lunches which contain nuts (packets of peanuts, peanut butter, cereal bars with whole nuts etc) as we have both children and staff with nut allergies.  

We encourage families to ensure that their child's packed lunch provides a healthy, balanced diet. SWEETS, CHOCOLATE BARS, FIZZY DRINKS OR ENERGY DRINKS ARE NOT PERMITTED. Guidance on a healthy lunchbox can be found on the Change 4 Life website.

If your child forgets their packed lunch, we may be able to provide them with a school meal BUT you will be charged for this.  

Drinks

We have water points around the school that children can access.  Children are encouraged to bring a bottle of WATER with them to school each day (all bottles should be clearly named). Juice/squash is not permitted.