Nutritional Information
The Government announced new stanards for school food to be phased in by September 2009. They cover all food sold or served in schools: breakfast, mid-morning break, lunch and after-school clubs.
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Primary Schools
The standards say that lunches for primary school pupils must contain at least one item from each of the following food groups.
- Starchy food such as bread, potatoes, rice and pasta. Starchy food cooked in oil or fat not to be served more than three times a week.
- Fruit and a vegetable must be available every day. Fruit based desserts must be available twice a week.
- Milk and dairy foods.
- Meat, fish and alternative sources of protein. Red meat must be served at least twice a week. Fish must be served a least once a week.
Secondary Schools
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- Starchy foods such as bread, rice and pasta. At least one of the foods available in this group should not be cooked in oil or fat. (For example if one option is roast potatoes, another option could be boiled rice.)
- Vegetables and fruit.
- Milk and dairy foods.
- Meat, fish and alternative (non-dairy) sources of protein. Red meat must be served at least three times a week. Fish must be served at least twice a week.
Further information may be obtained by visiting the School Food Trust website.
The menus provided by Kingswood Catering meet the national nutritional standards. However, making a balanced meal available will not benefit your child if he or she chooses not to take it. We consider that we have a responsibilty to encourage pupils to strive for balance in thier diet. All our menus are planned with this objective.
We consider that healthy eating is best served by cooking the foods that children choose to eat most frequently, in the healthiest way possible. Consequently, wherever possible, food is steamed or oven baked rather than fried. The use of salt and fat is kept to a minimum.
GM Foods
Kingswood Catering does not intentionally use GM products in the production of meals. We require all of our suppliers to carry out appropriate checks on their sources.
Specialist Diets
Kingswood Catering is pleased to accomodate special dietary needs.
Please contact the school to ensure that they are aware of your requirements.
The school will be required to provide a current photograph of your child clearly labelled with thier name.
The school will set up a meeting between you and the Area Manager when you should bring the medical referral and details of the required diet.
A 'provision of medical/allergy diet' sheet will be completed and you will be required to sign the 'confirmation of diet provision' sheet.
We do not deliberately use nuts or nut products, however we cannot guarantee that any of our meals do not contain traces of such products. Consequently we must advise that any child requiring the use of an epi-pen should not take a school meal.
Packed Lunches – Guidance for Parents and Carers
During periods of warm weather, extra care must be taken when producing your child’s packed lunch. Under normal circumstances, food is safe to eat immediately after preparation. As time passes, any bacteria present on the food will multiply, eventually to such an extent that the food becomes harmful and possibly even dangerous to eat. The rate at which bacteria multiply is directly affected by temperature.
To reduce the risk of food poisoning, be sure to follow these guidelines when preparing your child’s lunch:
- Avoid meat products eg. poultry,
meat, pies, pasties etc.
- Prepare the food on the morning of consumption
- Discard any
of the day’s uneaten packed lunch
- Keep the packed lunch refrigerated
until the last possible moment
- Place ice packs inside lunch boxes
to keep them cool (Schools do not have facilities to refrigerate
your child’s meal)
- Don’t include dairy products such as soft
cheeses
- Use an airtight container to protect and transport food.
We recommend that salad sandwiches, fresh fruit, plain biscuits
and foods of a similar nature be used when preparing packed lunches.
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