School Meals

School Meal Choices 

At Whiteways we run our own school kitchen, preparing fresh food each day. 

We offer a choice of hot dinner and pudding/fruit, or a sandwich and pudding/fruit.  All children who have school meals also have unlimited access to a salad bar.  Our set food menus are rotated on a 3 weekly basis. 

We serve both Halal and non Halal meals, in accordance with Sheffield City Council guidelines and following a consultation with parents.  We operate a wristband system to ensure that children receive the meal they have ordered at the start of the day.  We realise how important it is to respect the beliefs, traditions and dietary requirements of the wide range of children and families attending the school and take our responsibilities very seriously, working hard to meet everyone’s needs.  If you have any concerns regarding your child at lunchtimes, please let us know so that our team of lunchtime supervisors can offer support or additional information.

School Dinner Payments 

We request that school dinners be ordered and paid for on Mondays, for the whole week but they can also be paid for on a daily basis. Payments must be made to either the class teacher or the school office. 

The cost for 1 day is £2.95 
The cost for 5 days is £14.75

Parents and carers who are in receipt of certain benefits may be entitled to Free School Meals.  For further information on how to apply for free school meals please click here.

Home for Lunch 

Children can go home for lunch at lunchtimes but we request that they are collected and returned to school by a responsible adult.  If this is an option you wish to use, please request and complete a ”permission for child to go home for lunch” form, from the school office.  Children who go home for lunch must sign themselves in and out of the school. 

Meal Times

• 2YO and nursery: 11:30-12
• FS (reception) 11:30 – 12:30
• Year 1 to Year 3 11:40 -12:30
• Year 4 12:20 -1:10
• Year 5 and 6 12:35 – 1:20

Healthy Packed Lunches 

Children who do not wish to have a school dinner, can bring a packed lunch with them each day. We ask that these do not contain glass bottles or fizzy drinks, water is always available in the dining hall. We encourage the eating of healthy sandwiches and snacks. 

Packed lunches are stored in lunch-box trolleys. 

Please be aware that we cannot re-heat packed lunches in school. 

Healthy lunches will be rewarded with stickers and notes home to congratulate them on making healthy choices. 

If a child regularly brings a packed lunch that is not a healthy choice, then a note will be placed in their lunch-box and a telephone call home will be made. If this should happen then a school sandwich will be provided on the first instance only. Further instances will result in the parents being invited into school to discuss appropriate content of a packed lunch. 

Healthy Packed Lunches – A Guide 

General Principles 

Packed lunches should include: 

• At least one portion of fruit or one portion of vegetables every day. 

• Oily fish is recommended at least once every three weeks. 
• A starchy food such as any type of bread, pasta salad every day. 
• Dairy food such as milk, cheese, yoghurt, fromage frais or custard every day. 
• Only still water, fruit juice, semi-skimmed or skimmed milk. 

Packed lunches should not include: 

• Snacks such as crisps. Instead, include seeds, vegetables and fruit (with no added salt, sugar or fat). Savoury crackers or bread-sticks served with fruit, vegetables or dairy food are also a good choice. 
• Chocolate spread, Nutella or jam sandwiches. 
• Food which has been previously cooked at home and left to cool such as kebabs, chips, fish fingers, fried chicken, rice and pizza. 
• Confectionery such as chocolate bars, breakfast bars and sweets. A biscuit/small snack bar i.e. breakaway or 2 x finger kit-kat is allowed but encourage your child to eat these only as part of a balanced meal. 
• Meat products such as sausage rolls, individual pies. 

• Milk shakes. 

Snacks/Drinks 

Milk is provided free for children under the age of five and for all children who are entitled to a free school meal. Milk can also be paid for on a termly basis. 

KS1 children are provided with a piece of fruit or vegetables each morning during break e.g. apples, bananas, carrots. 

KS2 children can bring a healthy snack from home for morning break or we offer a fruit tuck shop with items costing 20p. 

We encourage children to drink plenty of water throughout the day. Please would parents not send any fizzy drinks or drinks in glass containers. 

Special diets and allergies 

Be aware of nut allergies. We recommend you visit www.allergyuk.org website for accurate, reliable information on managing allergies in schools. 

The school also recognises that some pupils may require special diets that do not allow for the standards to be met exactly. In this case parents are urged to be responsible in ensuring that packed lunches are as healthy as possible. For these reasons pupils are also not permitted to swap food items. 

Free School Meals 

Do you qualify for free school meals? 

By taking up your entitlement to a free meal for your child, they will be getting a free, hot and healthy meal at lunchtime, saving you more than £450 a year. 

Did you know… just registering your child for free school meals means that the school gets extra money?
The government is giving money to schools to help children from lower income families do their very best. With this money we could provide your child with opportunites that might not otherwise be available to them. This funding is called the ‘Pupil Premium’. 

Do you qualify?
You can register your child for Free School Meals if you get any of these benefits: 

• Income Support 
• Income-based Job Seekers Allowance 
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance 
• Support under Part iv of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 
• The Guarantee Element of State Pension Credit 

• Child Tax Credit, provided they are not entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual income (as assessed by HM Revenue & Customs) that does not exceed £16,190 
• Working Tax Credit ‘run-on’ – the payment someone may receive for a further four weeks after they stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit. 

To apply for free school meals please contact the School Food Service (details below). Registering is very easy. 

• Telephone the School Food Service on 0114 2735705 or 0114 2736401 
• Download a free school meal application form. 

• Use the online application form on the School Food Service website which will be processed by the next working day at the latest. 
• Email the council at schoolfoodservice@sheffield.gov.uk 
• Application forms are also available from the school office and must be returned to the address supplied on the form. 

No one will know you have registered and it will not affect any other benefits you are claiming. Register now to make sure we don’t miss out.