Message from SIPS Catering

At SIPS, we understand the importance of providing high quality school meals; not only do they promote healthy eating habits, but they ensure pupils get a healthy, balanced and nutritious meal to give them the energy they need to be able to fully concentrate in class and perform in physical activities like sports and arts.

Lunch at school is a key point in the timetable – it bridges the gap between morning and afternoon sessions, it’s a social time, and we want children to enjoy what they’re eating. 

https://www.sips.co.uk/our-solutions/catering/

• We’re food specialists – we produce and serve a fresh, healthy meal to over 11,000 students a day – that’s 2.2 million+ hot meals every year!
• Our menus follow the Department for Education’s School Food Plan (www.schoolfoodplan.com), which sets out 17 actions to transform what children eat in schools and how they learn about food.
• What’s more, we put a heavy focus on food provenance; we source ingredients with an emphasis on quality, ethical sourcing and local spend.
• We know that sometimes schools feel that their school lunches are in need of a different approach or are experiencing ‘menu fatigue’. We work hard to ensure that this isn’t the case for ours. 
• As a not-for-profit organisation, we concentrate on providing a range of high-quality, child-friendly, food. By improving the quality of food on offer, together with our on-trend menus and exceptional customer care, we can support schools to significantly increase the uptake of meals.
• Children are at the heart of everything we do – and we go above and beyond to nurture and support young people in school, and we understand the responsibility of feeding someone’s child.

Universal Free School Meals

If your child is in Reception, years one or two, you will automatically be entitled for free meals under the 'Universal Infant Free School Meals' criteria. However if you do meet the criteria listed below then you will need to submit an online claim in order for your child’s school to receive Pupil Premium funding.

Free School Meals 

Free school meals for Key Stage 2 children can be provided as part of the Family Support Benefit Scheme and applications are completed online at: https://www.dudley.gov.uk/resident/your-council/benefits/free-school-meals/

If you get any of the following support payments your child may be entitled to receive free school meals:

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
• Working Tax Credit Run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
• Universal Credit (you must have less than £616.67 a month net earned income (after tax - and not including any benefits)​

Children who receive a qualifying benefit in their own right are also allowed to receive free school meals.

Children under the compulsory school age who are in full time education may also be entitled to receive free school meals.

Packed Lunches

We actively encourage a healthy lunchbox and recommend that they should contain the following:

• a good portion of starchy food, e.g. wholegrain bap, thick sliced wholemeal bread, chapatti, pitta pocket, pasta or rice salad
• plenty of fruit and vegetables, e.g. cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks, small box of raisins, mini can of fruit chunks
• a portion of semi-skimmed milk or dairy food, e.g. portion of cheese or pot of yoghurt
• a portion of lean meat, fish or alternative, e.g. ham, chicken, beef, tuna, Quorn, egg or hummus
• a drink e.g. fruit juice, semi skimmed milk or bottle of water

In addition, the school encourages a healthy diet and asks parents to consider the quantity and frequency of the following items in pupils’ lunchboxes:

• Sweets (including Winders), chocolate bars, etc.
• Crisps or any packeted savoury snacks high in salt and fat
• Sweet cakes, e.g. cakes, doughnuts, etc.

For the health and safety of children with nut allergies we ask that the following are not included in pupils’ lunchboxes:

• Nut bars
• Foods containing nuts
• Packets of nuts