Moorside Community Primary School

  • Moorside Community Primary School

School Dinners

Meals are cooked on the premises, and provide the children with a varied and well-balanced diet. A canteen method of service is in operation, the children may choose one of the meal options, or a lunch from a selection of healthy light lunches or can bring a packed lunch from home.

ALLERGENS ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.

The cost of a meal provided by the school is £12.15 per week (£2.43 a day) and can be paid for using ParentPay.  

Meals have to be paid for at least a week in advance.  Alternatively, half termly or termly payments can be made. As we are a ParentPay school, parents have a secure online account on www.parentpay.com, activated using a unique username and password; making a payment using your credit or debit card is straightforward and ParentPay holds an electronic record of all payments for you to view at a later date. When you make a payment, an e-mail confirmation is sent to you, giving you reassurance that the transaction has been successful. Please rest assured that no card details are stored on the system or are accessible by the school or ParentPay.

If dinner money is in debt school meals will terminate and your child will need to bring a packed lunch into school. Full repayment of the debt will still be required.

If your child wishes to change from dinners to packed lunches or vice versa please you can let the office know.

Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM)

From September 2014 every pupil in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 were offered free healthy school lunches.

We encourage all the parents to take up this offer of a free school meal, as good food and good food culture has been shown to lead not only to healthier, happier and more fulfilled children, but to improved educational attainment. We believe that the school lunchtime is a great opportunity for all our children to sit down together and enjoy their healthy and tasty meal, while developing their social skills.

If however you prefer for your child to be on packed lunch please let the school office know.

Registering for School meals

We ask that ALL PARENTS eligible for free school meals please contact Salford Gateway and register with them. This is important so that we can continue to register pupils who attract pupil premium which is additional funding given to publicly-funded schools in England to raise the attainment of certain groups of pupils and close the gap between them and their peers.

It is paid to schools according to the number of pupils who have been:

  • Registered as eligible for free school meals at any point in the last 6 years
  • Been in local authority care for 6 months or longer

Who qualifies?

Your child may be able to get free school meals if you get any of the following:

  • Income Support
  • Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
  • Income-related employment and support allowance
  • The guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
  • Universal credit (not working)
  • Universal credit (working and net earnings are less than £7,400 per year)
  • Child Tax Credit, provided they are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual
  • gross income of no more than £16,190
  • Where a parent is entitled to Working Tax Credit Run-on, paid for four weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
  • If you get support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999

Children who receive any of the above benefits in their own right (ie they get payments directly, instead of through a parent or guardian) can also get free school meals.

However, as soon as you stop claiming any of the qualifying benefits listed above, your entitlement to claim free school meals also ends.

Apply in the following ways:

Apply online

There are now two online application forms available for parents:

If you are claiming any of the qualifying benefits listed above, please use the:

Income based free school meals application

Or if you are an asylum seeker use the:

Asylum seekers free school meals application

Parents can also submit general online enquiries about free school meals by using our contact FSM form.

Members of staff who work at Salford schools can submit applications and enquiries on behalf of parents using our Salford schools FSM form.

Members of staff who work at schools outside Salford can submit applications and enquiries on behalf of parents using our out of area schools FSM form.

Please be aware that supporting documents can be uploaded with any of the above forms, and that we will be unable to process applications for free school meals unless we have seen the necessary proof that you are entitled to claim.

Apply by telephone

If you are claiming housing benefit and/or council tax reduction which is assessed using one of the qualifying incomes above, for example Income Support or Jobseekers Allowance, then Salford should be able to process your free school meal applications and renewals over the phone, so please call to apply.

However, if we are unable to process your application when you call, usually because there is no current housing benefit and/or council tax reduction claim in payment, or the income that entitled you to claim free school meals has been ended on your claim, you will need to apply in person.

Apply in person

If we are unable to confirm your entitlement when you ring, you can also apply for free school meals at Broughton Hub or our Gateway centres:

Staff at these locations should be able to process your free school meals application on a drop in basis.

Documents you will need to produce

If you are applying in person, please be sure to bring documentary proof that you are currently in receipt of any of the above qualifying benefits, or confirmation that you receive support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (eg IND letter or a NASS letter).

We will be unable to process your application for free school meals unless we have seen the necessary proof that you are entitled to claim.

Need more information?

If you think your child may be entitled to free school meals you can obtain further information from the Department for Education, their school, by using our contact form.

Please remember, it is of benefit to yourself and your child's school to claim your free school meals.

For further information go to http://www.salford.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/free-school-meals/

Packed lunches

The children are allowed to opt for a packed lunch. We offer the following as guidance on the types of items you might like to include in your children’s lunches.

  • A good portion of starchy food e.g. wholegrain bap, wholemeal bread, chapatti, pita pocket, pasta or rice salad. Small amounts of low fat spread in sandwiches as opposed to butter.
  • Plenty of fruit and vegetables e.g. an apple, Satsuma, handful of cherry tomatoes or carrot sticks, mini can of fruit chunks, packet of unsalted nuts or small box of raisins.
  • A portion of semi skimmed milk or dairy food e.g. individual cheese portion or pot of yoghurt.
  • A portion of lean meat, fish or alternative e.g. ham, chicken, beef, tuna, egg or hummus.
  • A biscuit, cake, bun or scone.

Water

The children have access to water at all times both during lessons and in the dining hall. Children are not permitted to bring fizzy drinks, juices, flavoured water or other soft drinks to school in their water bottles and fizzy drinks are not allowed as part of packed lunches.

There are varying reason's to support water consumption at school:

How does drinking water link to health?

Drinking adequate amounts of water regularly throughout the day can protect health and contribute to well-being
Drinking adequate amounts of water can help prevent a range of short and long-term health problems from headaches, bladder, kidney and bowel problems to cancer
Water has none of the health problems associated with drinks containing sugar, additives, sweeteners, acids or caffeine

How does drinking water improve learning?

The key to boosting the capacity to learn is to keep well hydrated throughout the day
When we are thirsty, mental performance deteriorates by 10%
Pupils concentrate better because they are not distracted by the symptoms of dehydration such as thirst, tiredness and irritability
Can aid behaviour management by helping to settle pupils in the classroom
 

We aim to provide drinking water, which is:

  • free of charge
  • fresh
  • chilled in summer
  • from a mains water supply
  • readily available at all times to all pupils, ensuring equal access to those with special needs or disabilities • from a number of points around the school, including within the dining area • from modern, clean and regularly maintained dispensers (mains supplied water coolers, modern water fountains with a swan neck, bespoke taps and sinks)

Snacks

At present, all Foundation Stage and KS1 pupils are given a piece of fruit at morning break.

KS2 pupils are welcome to bring a piece of fruit from home or a healthy snack, no sweets, crisps or biscuits. Children may be asked to bring an alternative snack if deemed unhealthy.

Sweets are only allowed as special treats for the whole class on birthdays or from holidays. These must be given out at the end of school with a teacher’s consent. Chewing gum, bubble gum and lollipops are strictly forbidden for health and safety reasons.

Milk

Milk is provided free for all children up to the age of five years. Children who are on free school meals are also entitled to free school milk. If your child is over 5 and not on free school meals there is a charge for milk paid termly.