Your questions

Q: I heard about a problem with listeria in factory-made sandwiches, recently. Do Whole School Meals buy in ready-made sandwiches?

A: No, we don't! We make all our sandwiches on-site in our school kitchens.

Q: Can my child just have a meal on Fridays?

A: One meal a week is fine, but please pay for it on the previous Monday.
If you pay by cheque, please pay for at least 5 meals in advance. If it's cash, then any number of meals is fine (there are different arrangements for Warden House or Nonington Schools, which are ParentPay schools - see here for details).

Q: My child is following a dairy-free diet for prevention of glue-ear. Will you cater for children with special dietary needs?

A: Yes, we will. If your child needs to follow a special diet, please confirm this to us with a note from your GP and we will work with you to devise a diet that meets their needs.

Q: Will you provide packed lunches when the children go on outings?

A: Yes we will. We'll let parents know how to book packed lunches via
school newsletters and here on our website.

Q: Who will keep a record of my child's account - for instance, noting
when she is absent and corrying forward payment for that day's meal?

A: We shall do that. If your child has pre-paid for a meal and is absent
due to illness, for example, the payment will be carried forward.

Q: I see from the menu that bread will be served with all meals. Will
portions be controlled? How will children be prevented from swapping
food or pinching it from each others' plates?

A: Each child will be able to take one portion of bread, if they choose to.
The lunchtime supervisors employed by the schools have the role of supervising the children once they have been served.

Q: I can see on the menu that there is a choice of 3 puddings. How will that work? Does my child chooses what pudding he wants to eat ? I don't really want him to have the cake and custard every day.

A: We offer the children a choice of puddings - the hot pudding, fruit or yoghurt. Please be reassured that our menus have been analysed by a nutritionist to ensure that they contain the right minerals, vitamins, proportions of protein, carbs, fat and so on over a week's period. That's done on the basis of a child taking the meat or vegetarian option and the cooked pudding every day over a week.

Q: I would like to make a suggestion - could the day when the option of chips is made not be varied over the 3 week rota i.e. Week 1 Tuesday, Week 2 Thursday and Week 3 Friday?

A: We will certainly take your suggestion into consideration when we plan future menus. Originally we took chips off the menu altogether but later decided we should keep them on, at least for a while, as they are so popular. Also, kids really do like routines and there's a long tradition of roast on a Wednesday and chips on a Friday. We decided to keep that going for now but in time to try to introduce some new traditions for the children to look forward to!

Every day we offer a non-oily starchy food such as potatoes or pasta, as an alternative to any starchy food cooked in oil. So on Fridays, there is a choice of pasta. But if chips are on offer, probably that's what the children will mostly choose!