We are excited about at last being able to offer school lunches for all pupils from Reception to Sixth Form. The range and quality of food on offer is impressive. Along with Taylor Shaw, our caterers, we are aiming at a really high quality school meal service. Pupils are given the choice of a hot lunch with vegetarian option, salad bar, home-made sandwiches or a baked potato, followed by a range of traditional puddings. Other dessert options include fruit, yoghurt or jelly.
As well as enjoying good quality food, children are also taught table manners – the kind of things you will teach them at home but which are not always encouraged in some school dining halls. Eating together and conversing in an orderly way, serving each other, using knives and forks correctly and being appreciative of good food are all important life skills which we are determined to emphasise.
The cost of a lunch will be £2.20. Clearly this offers excellent value and to maintain that value it is imperative that the restaurant continues to receive the full support of us all. Parents who feel they might be eligible for free school meals, and who have not already registered, should contact the Bursar confidentially at school as soon as possible, or speak to me directly if you would prefer. There is no stigma attached to this and your child(ren) will not be identified in any way.
As a small school trying to offer real quality, we are operating the restaurant at break-even, even a small loss. This means that we do need every family to support the restaurant. Overall, the comments surrounding school lunches have been very positive indeed but I am aware of some parents who do not feel quite so positive. Of course, all medical issues will be catered for, but otherwise may I ask for your full support? Even if you are not sure, will you at least give it a try? I really do think that £2.20 for food of this quality (with a very reasonable but not wasteful amount of choice) is very good value and competitive with, if not cheaper than, a packed lunch.
If a significant number of parents opt out, the survival of the restaurant as we envisage it will be in jeopardy and we will probably have little choice but to revert to the less than ideal school lunch model which is so often criticised, i.e. pre-packaged food, lots of waste and low levels of nutrition. On the other hand, with everyone backing the restaurant, we can achieve the highest standards which we can all be proud of.
If any parents remain unsure, I will be delighted to invite them to come in to school and have lunch on the “top table” and sample the real thing.
Mr C.J. Gray
Principal