School Meals
Free School Meals
Parents who receive certain benefits are eligible to apply for free school meals for their child. Some of the Academy’s funding is based upon the number of students in school who are in receipt of free school meals, so we encourage all parents who believe they may be eligible for support to make an application.
Click HERE to apply for Free School Meals. You will need to make a new application for each child but your information will be remembered to help you to complete multiple applications quickly. Do not apply to Middlesbrough Council as they will be unable to process your application. (If your child joined the Academy in Year 7 in September 2023 and was eligible for Free School Meals at primary school, there is no need to reapply as due to Government protections around the roll out of Universal Credit they’ll remain eligible until they finish Year 11).
Families with no recourse to public funds (NRPF): Students from families with NRPF are eligible for Free School Meals if certain criteria are met. For further details please click here. Unfortunately, NRPF families are unable to make an online application as there is no benefit history available to be electronically checked. If you fall into this eligibility category, please contact us via enquiries@thekingsacademy.org.uk or telephone to request an application form and details of how to make an application.
Once you have submitted your application, your eligibility will be checked using the Department for Education’s Eligibility Checking Service and you will automatically receive notification of the outcome of your application by e-mail. The Academy will be automatically notified of the outcome of your application at the same time.
Where students qualify for free school meals a £2.50 daily allowance is credited to their meals account automatically at lunchtime each day. Extra monies can be added to top up the free meal allowance, via ParentPay. Free school meal allowances are not carried forward from day to day and cannot be used for any other purpose; any unspent additional monies added by parents/ carers will be carried forward.
Change in circumstances
Due to the introduction of Universal Credit, if your child is eligible for free school meals, they’ll remain eligible until they finish the phase of schooling (primary or secondary) they’re in on 31 March 2025. Therefore currently there is no need to notify us of any changes in circumstances once entitlement to free school meals has been confirmed
Catering at The King’s Academy
A good lunchtime diet helps young people to concentrate well in lessons, aiding learning, and can contribute to a healthy lifestyle. Students sitting down to eat lunch together develop their social skills and in addition, having school lunch as opposed to a packed lunch helps young people develop confidence to make appropriate menu choices and taste a range of different foods.
At The King’s Academy, our in-house catering team are passionate about food and committed to prioritising our students’ health and well-being. We are fanatical about finding the freshest and tastiest ingredients and combining them to create delicious, healthy meals. The meals we provide are an excellent source of nutrition, with an emphasis on homemade, high quality fresh food, sourced locally where possible.
There are two restaurants at the Academy – “Green Pastures” and “Still Waters” – and two sittings for lunch in each. Years 7, 8 and 9 take their lunch from 12.10 to 1pm. Lunchtime for Years 10 and 11 is from 1.10 to 2pm. Sixth formers are able to access the restaurants in either sitting. Year 11 and Sixth form students also have access to the restaurant at morning break, when a range of healthy and filling snacks is available for them to purchase to keep them fuelled until lunchtime.
We are proud of the choice and variety of meals which are available to students and staff every lunchtime. Our menus operate on a four weekly rotation, with three hot main courses being available each day, including one vegetarian choice, together with lighter options such as salads, pasta pots, hot and cold sandwiches, jacket potatoes and home-made soups. Fruit, yoghurts, home bakes and hot puddings are available to follow. Healthy fruit drinks, milkshakes and bottled water can be purchased and fresh drinking water is always available to drink.
All our menu choices comply with the requirements of the School Food Regulations. In addition, students are guided towards healthy choices through the following measures:
- If two drinks are purchased, one has to be water or milk, helping to control sugar intake;
- Students are not allowed to buy a hot pudding/ home bake or cake unless they are having a healthy lunch e.g. meal in the restaurant or packed lunch, to discourage students from surviving on sugary snacks;
- Chips are only available for purchase once each week.
Medical dietary requirements
Our Catering Manager is always delighted to work with students and their parents in order to ensure that disclosed medical dietary needs can be met. Where students have special dietary requirements they can be highlighted and entered confidentially into the till system, so students with special dietary needs are known to staff and purchases restricted to suitable items. An allergen matrix is in place for all menu items. Other measures include weekly or daily menu consultations and items being made to order.
Pricing
A two course meal costs £2.50 a day and a range of attractive meal deals are available for various choice combinations. Our meals service is run on a not for profit basis.
Menu’s
Breakfast Menu
Meal Deals
Weekly Lunch Menu
Payments
In line with most other schools, we operate a cashless meal system to avoid singling out students who receive free school meals. Every student has a meal account and their own finger scan ID (or PIN code), which is secure and private. Money must be credited to the student’s account using ParentPay before any purchases can be made. No meal deduction will be made in a child’s absence. Students are only able to purchase food and drinks which they will consume – they are unable to buy items for other students.
Your child’s meals account balance can be viewed in your Parentpay account. Your child is also able to check the balance on the account for themselves at fingerprint readers near to the upstairs and downstairs restaurants. Please ensure that your child’s meals account always has sufficient funds available to be drawn upon. Most parents find it helpful for budgeting purposes to top up their child’s meals account by adding £12.50 at the start of each week (enough for a two course meal each day). However, we recognise that amidst the busyness of family life, payments can occasionally be forgotten. If that does happen, the student is allowed to obtain a 2 course meal, the value of which is automatically deducted from the account once funds have been topped up. Debts should be cleared on the day they are incurred. Should meals debts not be cleared on a timely basis, the Academy reserves the right to refuse service and request you provide your child with a packed lunch until the issue has been resolved.
At lunchtime, the till operator uses a touch screen terminal, which displays a photo image of each child and records the meal they have chosen that day. Students’ meal details are recorded, which allows parents the facility to monitor their child’s eating habits in their ParentPay account, should they wish.
Queries
If you have any queries please contact a member of our team, as follows:
For queries about our menus, pricing, meals account purchases, dietary needs, compliments and suggestions for improvement, please contact our Catering Manager Mrs Jones using enquiries@thekingsacademy.org.uk (marked for attention of Mrs Jones and clearly stating the name of your child and her or his tutor group).
For queries about meals account top ups using ParentPay and free school meals please contact our finance office on 01642 577 577 option 4 or via finance@thekingsacademy.org.uk (clearly stating the name of your child and her or his tutor group).