School Meals
HOT LUNCHES
At Ruislip Gardens we are extremely proud to prepare freshly cooked, nutritional and tasty meals on-site every day. There is a choice of meat, vegetarian or jacket potato with a variety of fillings every day, together with a fresh salad bar, baked bread, a dessert or fresh fruit/yoghurt and a drink.
The current menu runs in a 3 week cycle and can be found here.
ORDERING AND BENEFITS OF HAVING A HOT LUNCH
An electronic link for ordering is sent home on a half termly basis; parents/carer can look at the menu with their child regularly to help them make lunch choices in advance.
Having a hot meal at school encourages children to try new foods early in their developing years and aids concentration for afternoon lessons.
The school meal offers good value for money and, with its three week rotating menu, allows a great breadth of choice to pupils.
We encourage children to try different foods and to sample any foods they ae not familiar with, we ask children to eat at least half their meals and assist them with their choices and try make lunch time a happy and sociable experience.
COST OF LUNCHES
FREE MEALS:
Children in Reception and Key Stage 1 are entitled to Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM), a government initiative which means they can have a school lunch every day and they do not have to pay for a school meal.
Free School Meals are available to pupils whose parents are in receipt of certain benefits: check your eligibility: FSM Eligibility Checker From Nursery to Year 6, the FSM eligibility offers advantages to both the pupil and the school. We encourage you to apply for Free School Meals status, regardless of the academic year your child attends.
PAYING FOR MEALS (for children in KS2 years 3-6, or all day Nursery)
Lunches are charged at a rate of £2.40 per day
Payment must be made via your child’s ParentPay account in advance. Where a debt is accrued, the school will follow its Debt Recovery Policy. Click here to view that policy.
Please remember that you will have to pay for school meals when your child moves from year 2 to year 3.
PACKED LUNCHES
If your child is going to bring a packed lunch, it is important that it is nutritionally balanced (as the hot lunches are) whilst not being overloaded. We encourage children to eat at least half of their packed lunch. Lunch boxes should always contain a savoury choice and a piece of fruit (in line with healthy eating guidelines). We do not allow sweets, chocolate or fizzy drinks. We make every effort to check all of the children's lunchboxes during our busy lunchtimes, and your support in ensuring that your child has a healthy lunch box every day helps us enormously.
Please do not send in items containing NUTS as we have children in school with severe allergies.
Please see the Change 4 life guidance and ideas for Healthier Lunchboxes:
https://www.nhs.uk/change4life/recipes/healthier-lunchboxes
The school offers packed lunches to pupils for school trips which are charged and paid for in the same way as hot lunches. Details are shared prior to each trip.