School Meals
Stone Bay School is fortunate to have an in-house Catering Staff Team who work with the education and residential education staff teams to provide every pupil with a varied, wholesome, nutritious and interesting diet. Our Catering Manager adheres to the Government’s food and nutrition based standards for school lunches and uses information and ideas from the School Food Standards and the School Food Plan.
Our Catering Team provides for the dietary requirements of all pupils. This includes sourcing specialist foods for pupils who require dairy free, gluten free or wheat free diets as well as catering for the needs of pupils who may have food allergies or intolerances.
Some pupils choose to bring in a packed lunch. Families are advised to use this link from the NHS website to help pack their child a delicious and nutritious lunch. https://www.nhs.uk/healthier-families/recipes/healthier-lunchboxes/ . If families need more support with packing a healthy lunch they can contact their class teacher who will be happy to help.
Children and young people with autism may refuse to eat certain food items or prefer to eat the same food at each meal. In consultation with the pupils' families and with the education and residential education staff teams, the catering staff encourage our students to tolerate and try new foods.
The school will be introducing themed days, in which a special lunch is provided by the catering team and chosen by the School Council. Themes include celebrating our four national saints’ days, American Independence Day, Bastille Day and of course – Christmas! These special days provide an opportunity to introduce the pupils to foods based around a theme and are an ideal opportunity for our pupils to eat together as a school community.
National Schools Breakfast Programme
Stone Bay have signed up to the National Schools Breakfast Programme (NSBP) and subsidise this to offer a free healthy snack for all pupils, including bagels, fruit, cereals and milk.
The National School Breakfast Programme (NSBP) is funded by the Department for Education and delivered by Family Action to support schools in England to provide children with a healthy breakfast at the start of the school day.
Family Action is committed to supporting child development, and believes a healthy school breakfast, without barriers or stigma, can set up children to succeed and give them the very best chance to learn.
The National Schools Breakfast Programme will provide our school with:
- Good practice sharing opportunities, resources and the opportunity to learn from a national network of schools.
- The opportunity to enhance parental engagement on healthy eating and the importance of having a nutritious breakfast each morning
The National Schools Breakfast Programme works with schools to :
- Identify and target children who would benefit most from a regular, free healthy breakfast, so that they and their families feel able to access the support, without barriers or stigma.
- Share the compelling evidence and research that supports why it is so important for children to have free access to a nutritious breakfast at the start of every school day
- Create the opportunity for all pupils to share a healthy snack together.
Free School Meals
If your child is under 19 and in full-time education, and you receive certain benefits, you may be able to receive free school meals for them. If your child is in KS1(R,Y1&Y2) and you are eligible for free school meal funding, we as a school would encourage you to apply for your child even if your child is currently receiving Universal Free School Meals or is bringing a packed lunch into school.
If you are able to apply for free school meals, and for each successful claim made, the school will receive Pupil Premium Funding. Below is a link which will provide you with information about this funding and how it can benefit your child and the school as a whole.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium/pupil-premium
Apply online
If you think that your child/ren could be eligible for free school meals you can click on the link below where your eligibility will be checked by KCC and your application processed straight away. If your application is successful the school will be notified and your child should start receiving their free school meal within 24 hours.
https://apply.cloudforedu.org.uk/ofsm/kent
You need to make a new application for each child but your information will be saved so you can quickly apply for more than one child.
You can make an application for a parent or carer if you have their permission and their details.
https://apply.cloudforedu.org.uk/ofsm/kent/apply
To complete an application, you will need to provide:
- Your own name and date of birth
- Contact details
- National Insurance Number or National Asylum Seekers Number
- Child's name and date of birth
- School your child is attending/will attend.
If you have any queries regarding Free School Meals or require assistance with your application please contact the school office.
