The Forest Academy
Parents » School Meals
From September 2014, all pupils in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are encouraged to eat a school meal which is provided free of charge. We encourage all pupils in Foundation and KS1 to take the school meal and refrain from bringing in a packed lunch from home as we are certain that even pupils who can be fussy eaters at home are likely to try a wider range of foods when they are eating alongside their friends in a lunch hall environment.
We expect and promote good manners during lunchtime and are well supported by a team of lunchtime supervisors who provide a caring and supportive environment for all pupils. Our dining hall is a dedicated space and provides a spacious, bright and clean environment for your child to enjoy their lunchtime experience.
Children are given a choice of different meals, a traditional dinner, a jacket potato with a range of fillings and salads or a lunchbox (sandwich) option.
Parents of pupils in Key Stage 2 (Years 3-6) who are not entitled to Free School Meals can, of course, opt to take a school meal for their child. All meals must be paid for in advance using our cashless till system- Arbor Parent Portal. Please ask at the school office for information about this service, or speak to us if you believe you may be entitled to Free School Meals and would like our assistance. Please note that we cannot maintain an offer of a school meal to pupils where debt arrears have exceeded TWO WEEKS. Parents will be asked to settle the debt so that pupils can continue to enjoy a school meal.
Parents can, of course, opt for their child to bring a packed lunch from home. Packed lunches must not contain sweets, chocolate, fizzy or energy drinks of any kind and pupils with these products in their lunch box will be encouraged to save them for home.
Additional snacks are available during the course of the school day. Children in Foundaiton Stage amd Key Stage 1 are provided with fresh fruit or vegetables each day. Small cartons of milk are available daily for all children who wish to partake. There is a termly charge for milk, but milk is provided free of charge to families in receipt of 'Scheme of Aid' or for pupils under fiver years, they will receive free milk up to the term before they turn five.
Children are encouraged to bring water bottles to school containing water only.
All up to date menus are emailed to parents via the Arbor Parent Portal and are available from the school reception.
At Wellspring Academy Trust, we are working to transition the catering arrangements at Forest Academy to an ‘in house’ offer. We are currently developing healthy, nutritious, and tasty menus and planning engagement activities ‘beyond the kitchen’ to embrace the whole dining experience.
Wellspring Catering Vision: To deliver delicious, nutritional and healthy meals in a beautiful dining environment.
- We believe our Wellspring community deserves exceptional food and dining experience every day and to actively promote healthy eating, wellbeing and food education across the Trust.
- We believe that our people are at the heart of what we do and therefore strive to deliver a friendly high quality customer service by building a rapport and strong relationships.
- We invest in our catering team’s development to continuously upskill, be creative and innovative.
- We believe and understand the importance of how food can impact directly on pupils’ learning and behaviour therefore understand the importance of delivering and consistently serving great food in all aspects of school catering.
- We believe and understand that achieving high quality food and hygiene standards in line with legislation and the Trust’s policies, procedures and assurance framework are paramount to keeping children strong, safe and healthy and most importantly equipped to learn.
- We believe and invest in our vibrant dining environments to create a great dining ambience and experience for our Wellspring community. That means not only ensuring our dining spaces are beautiful, upkept and well maintained but also investing in our catering kitchen infrastructure and environments.
- We understand the importance of how our catering provision can impact our sustainability agenda. That means we are proactively ensuring the most economic use of energy and water consumption and driving forward positive waste management reduction initiatives.
