Frequently Asked Questions
Who Is Kingswood Catering?
What is Kingswood Catering’s policy on the use of GM foods?
What are the minimum nutritional standards?
Why choose Kingswood Catering?
Great choice!
You will see from our menus that every day there are great choices available. Our cooks are trained to balance the menus and taking account of the likes of the pupils, produce more of the most popular dishes.
We do this because to ensure a choice for everyone would be expensive and wasteful. We want to ensure that we can continue to provide nutritious meals without great price increases.
You will appreciate that children do change their minds about the things they like and dislike! Most schools change the order of classes so that all pupils get the chance to be first.
Quality assurance!
All our food is of the highest quality, provided by reputable suppliers. We know where everything comes from and what’s in it!
Vegetarian meals?
No problem at all; If your child requires a vegetarian meal please let the school know. Our menus already include several vegetarian options and our cooks have a variety of great recipes.
Special diets?
Kingswood has the full dietary information on all the foods we use, therefore you can be assured that we can safely accommodate the majority of medical and allergy diets. The only exceptions to this are children with acute nut allergies. Please contact the school to arrange a meeting to discuss your child’s needs.
Breakfast at school?
Kingswood Catering already provides a breakfast service at many schools in the district and we are hoping to build on our success.
The breakfast clubs provide a lovely environment for your child to start their day, have a nutritious meal and take the opportunity to talk and play with their friends.
Come and join us!
You are always welcome, with the agreement of the headteacher, to visit the school at lunch time to view the service and take a meal with the pupils.
How much is a school meal?
The current price of a primary meal is £1.40. In secondary schools, where cafeterias operate, items are individually priced. Every day, all cafeterias offer a fixed, two course meal for £1.40.
Why is it that my primary school child has little or no choice at lunchtime?
To ensure that every pupil has a choice of meals, we would need to cook two meals, one of each alternative, for every child. Obviously this would be wasteful and impractical. The increased costs created by the waste would have to be passed back to parents in the form of a higher price per meal.
To avoid this, we ask our kitchen supervisors to use their judgement to produce meals in the correct ratio i.e. cook more of the most popular foods and less of the less popular ones.
Our cooks know their customers very well and are usually able to judge the provision accurately. There will always be occasions however, when they get it wrong and pupils are left with a dish that they would not have taken through choice.
Many schools help us deal with this problem by rotating the year groups so that the same children are not always the last to get their meal.
What is the position regarding meals provision during school trips?
Upon request by the school, we automatically provide a packed lunch for any pupil entitled to a free school meal. On further request, packed lunches can also be prepared for those pupils paying for their lunch
Guidance for Packed Lunches
Packed lunches for primary pupils should include the following –
Meat, fish or a dairy / non-dairy source of protein
Red meat should be provided at least twice a week
Fish should be provided at least once a week, of that oily fish should be provided at least once every three weeks.
A starchy food
At least one portion of fruit.
At least one portion of vegetable or salad.
A milk or dairy food.
Water, skimmed / semi skimmed milk, fruit juice, vegetable juice or plain yoghurt drink.
Packed lunches should not include –
Confectionery
Snacks with added salt, sugar or fat
Deep-fried products more than twice a week
Government Standards
The government have introduced new, even higher standards for school meals.
General eating habits among children need to change because of worries that many eat too much food with lots of fat, salt and sugar. This can lead to serious health problems now and later in their lives. Sweet fizzy drinks can also cause tooth decay and make children put on unnecessary weight.Schools must now offer even healthier choices at lunchtime. The new standards mean more fresh food, including fruit and vegetables, and less deep fried food and manufactured meat products, even top quality ones like our low fat sausages and Aberdeen Angus beef burgers. Sweets, chocolate and crisps are not allowed. Kingswood is working hard to meet these standards.
We hope that you and your children will continue to support these new, healthier school meals. If you do send a packed lunch, please think carefully about what goes into it.
We know that a large number of schools are making healthy eating a priority. Many schools in the district have already achieved the healthy school status. Healthy eating plays an important role in your child’s development. As parents, your support can make the world of difference in helping your child to be interested in the exciting menus we offer. We ask you to be even more proactive by talking to your children about healthy eating at other times of the day as well as at lunch so that school and parents are working together towards building a healthy future for them.
The School Food Trust has been set up to help parents, children and schools with the introduction of the new food standards. For further information visit the school food trust at www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk
My children enjoy their school meal but tell me that they have eaten some strange combinations – why are these served?
Every day the menu features 2 main courses each with appropriate side dishes e.g. Pasta Margherita and salad or Roast Beef Yorkshire pudding vegetables and gravy. If however your child selected the wrong combination such as Pasta Margherita with vegetables and gravy they would not be refused.
The combination although unappealing to adults still contains a greater nutritional value than the average packed lunch.
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