Bridgelea Primary SchoolSchool Dinners
We offer toast and cereals in the morning for breakfast to all children. In addition, fruit is available free of charge. Water is available to all children throughout the day.
Our Longsight kitchen provides fresh meals, cooked to order every day for both Longsight and Withington pupils. There is an agreed menu that rotates over a 4 week period. Every morning pupils get to choose the meal they want from that day’s menu. This is done during the morning registration session and orders are then collected and taken to the kitchen by 9.30am. Meals provided to Withington are transported in hot boxes.
The variety and quality of meals are both excellent and represent real value for money. The cost of a school meal is £2.30 per day (£11.50 each week). Meals must be paid for at the school office at the beginning of the week. Our nutritional menus try to reflect what young people like, combined with the foods they need to be eating to ensure they are fit and healthy. There is great value in knowing your child gets a good, hot meal every day and our chef is always happy to discuss food options should a child be particularly ‘choosy’ or medically intolerant regarding certain foods. We also offer vegetarian and vegan alternatives.
Some people prefer their own sandwiches, so your child can bring their own packed lunch if preferred. Please speak to a member of staff to arrange this. We ask that packed lunches reflect a healthy lifestyle; a sandwich, fruit and yoghurts are all OK but we will not allow children to drink fizzy drinks. These items will be sent home with the child at the end of the day.
If pupils are off-site on an activity during lunchtime, a ‘grab bag’ will be ordered from the kitchen for them to take with them.
All meals are eaten together in class groups with all pupils and staff sitting at the dining table in their own classroom. Food is brought to the classrooms in a ‘hot trolley’ and the children are served their meals by the staff. This is a ‘family’ approach to eating and is both a learning and a social activity.
Please note – water and juice are always available throughout the day in school including lunchtime, so we ask that pupils do not bring their own drinks to school, especially ‘fizzy’ drinks. If they do, these will be kept safely at the school office and returned to the pupil at the end of the day.
Free School Meals
Which children qualify for them?
Universal Infant Free School Meals in England (UIFSM) - All children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are offered a free school meal funded by the Government through a programme called Universal Infant Free School Meals regardless of your income. If you have one of the qualifying incomes (below) it will help the school if you tell them this, so they can get extra funding.
Free School Meals (FSM) - From Year 3 onwards your children are entitled to free school meals if you are in receipt of any of the incomes below:
- Income Support
- income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- the guaranteed part of Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit (as long as your annual gross income is £16,190 or less and you don’t get Working Tax Credit)
- Working Tax Credit run-off after you come off Working Tax Credit
- Universal Credit that you applied for on, or after, 1 April 2018. As long as your household income is less than £7,400 a year after tax, not including any benefits
Children who receive these benefits themselves instead of through a parent or guardian, can also qualify for free school meals.
Your child may qualify if you are an asylum seeker.
You can apply for a child that lives with you and you are responsible for – for example if you get the child benefit or child tax credit for them.
Children who are younger than the compulsory age for starting school but in full-time education, can also get free school meals.
*** You no longer need to contact the Local Authority to apply for Free School meals, just click on the link below to see if you are eligible.***
Please clink on this link to check eligibility and also to apply for FSM/UIFSM - You will need your National Insurance number and a valid email address, so have it ready before you start. You only need to complete this form once and it will last for the duration of your child’s time at their current school. If your child's school is not listed, then please contact the school direct. If your child is eligible for a FSM you will be allocated a reference number and confirmation of eligibility will be emailed direct to the email address that you provide and a notification will also be sent to your child's school.
If your child's school is outside Manchester, their free school meals will be dealt with by the local authority the school is in. Go to the GOV.UK website and enter the postcode of the school your child attends to find out how to get them.
How long can they get free school meals for?
Children who are eligible for free school meals now will be eligible for them until either:
- they finish school; or
- if on 31 March 2022 they are still in school, until they finish the phase of schooling they are in (primary or secondary) – whichever is sooner.