School Meals, School Snacks, Allergies and Food in School
School Lunch
We offer a range of hot and cold school meals throughout the week.
For children in Reception through to Year 2, school meals are free as part Universal Free School Meals.
For children in Years 3 and above the cost for a school meal from 13th April 2026 is £3.00 and is payable in advance via Scopay. Your child may be eligible for Free School Meals depending on your circumstances - further information can be found here.
Parents can prebook and select their children's meal choices via Scopay, to enable the catering team to prepare in advance, and have availability of choices and minimise waste.
School Snack Guidelines
Most children require a snack at morning break to keep them going through the day.
We encourage children to bring in healthy snacks full of vitamins and minerals containing no added salt, fat or sugar. Many of these will help contribute to their 5 daily portions of fruit and vegetables, keep them alert and help them concentrate. It can be hard during the week to think of suitable items for them to bring in to school, but we are aiming, with the help of the children, to not only support them in making healthy choices regarding snacks, but to also reduce food packaging and waste.
Providing snacks in a small, named, recyclable container is ideal. Children in EYFS and KS1 have a daily snack of fruit or veg provided for free by the government, so additional snacks for these ages may not be required.
If you are intending to send in healthy snacks with your child please limit them to the list below.
Vegetable sticks – such as celery, cucumber, peppers or carrot, a range of colour ensures different vitamins and minerals.
A piece of cheddar cheese or Babybel
A piece of fresh or dried fruit, high in soluble fibre and vitamins would also be a great snack– pineapple, mango, kiwi, plain raisins, apricots, blueberries, banana slices.
Bread sticks, plain pretzels, banana bread, malt loaf, oat/rice cakes and small pitta breads are also good snacks, providing children with carbohydrate to sustain them in-between meals.
Homemade snack - flapjacks or other oat/whole grain based snack. These must be nut free. Items brought into school should be carefully checked by you, to ensure this. Middleforth has pupils who are severely allergic to a range of nuts.
We are aiming for a common-sense approach, with the key being to keep it healthy and no chocolate, sweets or crisps.
We need the children to stay hydrated and so please ensure they bring a named water bottle into school daily. Squash and fruit juice are not permitted. We hope that with your help, we can encourage the children to develop healthy eating habits that become a normal part of everyday life. By keeping high calorie snacks to a minimum and establishing healthy eating habits early on, improvements can be made for a child’s quality of life both in the short and long term.
Allergies
We prioritise the well-being and safety of all pupils including those with known allergies.
PLEASE NOTE WE ARE AN ALLERGY AWARE SCHOOL - as we have children with severe nut allergies, other food and non-food allergies and several who are intolerant of dairy children, parents, staff and visitors must be mindful when bringing food into school.
Any food can lead to an allergic reaction.
Nuts of any kind can not be brought into school.
Parents must advise the school office of any allergies and food intolerances and provide any medication and Medical/Allergy Action Plans if required. If you do not have one already in place we will help develop a plan.
Benedict's Law
In line with the requirements of Benedict's Law we have in place a whole school allergy policy (please see document below) and ensure all staff continue to receive comprehensive and detailed allergy awareness and emergency response training.
In summary, we stock spare adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs) for emergency use for any child or adult experiencing symptoms of anaphylaxis (in addition to the spare prescription devices children with allergies already have with them).
We ensure that we have in place individual healthcare and action plans for children with serious allergies.
Such allergies are not restricted to food and also include the following:
Hay fever (allergic rhinitis)
Skin allergies, such as eczema, contact dermatitis, contact urticaria or hives
Asthma
Allergic reactions to insect stings and medicine (such as penicillin)
Please contact the school office with any queries or concerns you have and the team will be happy to help.