Food in School
Menu
At St Mary's, we think food is a really important part of the healthy lifestyle we aim to instill in our pupils. We've done a lot of thinking about how lunchtime fits into this, including parents and pupils in our discussions.
We believe eating is more than just ‘refueling’, it should be an informal social situation where children work together, share responsibilities, and make new friends across the school. We are committed to working with you to make lunchtime better for your child, but at St Mary's, lunch time will always be more to us than just food. Particular attention is paid to healthy eating, trying new foods, social interaction, and table manners, and these are rewarded through our Healthy Lunch Reward Programme.
We aim to make lunchtime a happy, calm and social experience. Children sit together, whether they take school lunches, or bring a packed lunch from home. Our catering staff are friendly, approachable, and will work with you and your child to ensure they are able to choose something from the menu. Our menus change at least termly, and offer a nutritious and exciting meal, in line with Government guidelines.
For those children bringing packed lunches, we offer support and guidance to parents on healthy options and sugar swaps. Our Packed Lunch Policy outlines our approach to packed lunches.
School Lunches
Our wonderful cooks work really hard to ensure we provide a healthy and balanced meal for your child. Children are supported to make healthy choices, but at the same time, we encourage independence, and for children to make their own decisions. We work with your child's likes and dislikes as much as we are able. Please feel free to come in and discuss your child's lunch with us at any time.
Making Packed Lunches more interesting
Find some ideas here to brighten up your child’s lunchbox:
Cake Sales
We all love a cake sale! The school and PTA will often hold cake sales as a way of generating funds, both for the school, and for other good causes such as Macmillan, Comic Relief, or Children in Need.
We absolutely don’t want to take the fun away from these events, but we would like to ask you to consider sending in healthier versions of your favourite cakes.
For those of you who purchase cakes to send in, please look for lighter versions where possible.
For those of you lovely people who bake cakes for these sales, we’ve put together a small list of lighter versions of cakes. Don’t be put off by those that have veg in them, we have tried these, and you cannot tell! Beetroot in a chocolate cake gives a lovely fudgy flavour, while courgette in a cake makes it really moist, excellent with orange or lemon flavours. In other recipes, sugar is replaced with banana, honey or another healthier alternative. Please give these a go!
