Catering - school meals

Primary school meals (from 14 September 2009)

Price: £1.85 per day

Menu

• main course meat or fish dish
• main course vegetarian dish
• freshly made sandwiches on request
• potatoes, rice or pasta with vegetables or salad
• choice of pudding every day
• fresh salad available every day
• fresh fruit available every day
• fresh semi-skimmed milk and fruit juice drink available every day.

Facts about primary school meals in Derbyshire

• Primary and secondary menus that comply with the Government Nutritional Standards.
• All recipes are low in sugar and fat. 
• Daily servings of vegetables,salad and fresh fruit.
• Oven baking of dishes in preference to frying.
• Traditional Roast dinner once per week.
• Home cooked dishes with quality ingredients, that are locally sourced where possible.
• All ingredients are checked for unnecessary additives and allergens. 
• Chilled milk available every day as part of the meal subsidised by EU.
• Bread served as an accompaniment to the meal.  
• Special medically referred diets can usually be catered for.  

Payment for primary school meals can be made by cash or cheque. Contact your child's school for more information.

Secondary school meals

Price: All items are individually priced.

Menu: Under the lifestyle menu all secondary schools offer a daily meal deal at a cost of £1.90 to include a choice of main course consisting of a meat, fish, cheese or vegetarian dish, plus potatoes, rice or pasta served with vegetables or salad. A choice of dessert/pudding is also included. Our lifestyle menu offer changes daily. A variety of healthier drinks are available for purchase at additional cost with fresh drinking water always available on request.

Free secondary school meals: Students can select their main course, dessert and drink from the menu up to the value of £2.15 a day.

Many secondary schools offer cashless payment systems using either card or biometric methods. Secondary cafeterias offer a wide range of menu items for morning break and lunch. Many schools provide a breakfast service and salad bars.

Nutrition

As part of improvements to our primary menu, we no longer add salt or have salt available in the dining rooms. Wherever possible, we use lower fat and lower sugar recipes. We ensure that there are no unnecessary additives and products are free from hydrogenated fat or oil.

Our menu fully meets the requirements of the Nutrient Standards and you can see how by viewing our nutrient based standards graph which is available in the related documents section at the bottom of this page.

For more information on the nutrient based standards and how they affect your child’s lunch, please visit the School Food Trust’s website www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk (opens in a new window) or see our link below.

Derbyshire schools now serving free range eggs

After reaching the nutritional standards set by the government for primary school menus, well ahead of schedule our catering department is now focusing on working towards more locally sourced menus and more farm assured produce for their menus.

Following an extensive search to find an egg producer that could cater for all 394 schools we are pleased to announce that all our eggs are now sourced from an award winning family run business that has won the coveted nation Egg Quality Award in 1988.

The free range eggs are produced from birds that are free to roam in farms that are found within the west Pennine region. All the layer farms are monitored by both the RSPCA Freedom Food Scheme which ensures that layer welfare and product qualities are adhered to on all producer farms.

The eggs are also stamped with the British Lion Quality logo which means that the eggs have been produced to the highest accredited food safety standards.

Food safety

Assured safe catering and hazard analysis policies protect all our customers. Food is temperature checked on delivery, during storage and prior to service.

All catering staff are trained to at least food safety level 2 (CIEH). Food safety checks take place throughout the production process from food suppliers to food service.

Customer services

Regular customer focus groups ensure that we meet our customers' changing needs. Our health promotions officer co-ordinates healthy eating initiatives within schools.

The catering service provides support for schools working towards Healthy Promoting Schools Awards. They regularly attend school open evenings and new starters events to introduce parents to the catering service provided and answer any questions they may have.

Our interactive website My School Lunch has a wealth of information on it which will help pupils, teachers and parents better understand how to maintain a healthy diet and active lifestyle. Please see Related Links below in order to access the website.