At Coupe Green, we want our children to achieve their best and we believe that a child’s diet and general well-being have an important role to play in this.
Children are encouraged to drink plenty of water throughout the day. Water bottles can be refilled during the school day, and we recommend the bottles with the ‘push-up’ tops, as screw tops can lead to spillages.
All school meals are cooked on site and the service is run by Lancashire County Council. The meals produced use only high quality, mainly fresh ingredients and represent very good value for money. As parents and carers, you will be invited to choose your child’s menu choices in advance, by booking online via Parentpay. The menus work on a three weekly rolling cycle, so at the end of week 3 we will revert back to the menu for week 1 and so on. The school menus are reviewed twice a year and, when changed, new menu choices will be available to book on Parentpay. By allowing this choice, you can guarantee your child will be served with a meal you think they will be happy with. Lunchtime is supervised, as well as the midday playtime, by our teaching/welfare assistants.
School meals are paid for in advance when booking meals on Parentpay. If your child is absent on the day when the meal is booked, credits are carried forward, so they are available for future bookings.
From September 2014, all pupils in the infants have been entitled to receive a free school meal. If you are eligible for certain benefits, the school may receive additional funding to help support your child. This has been called Free School Meals or is also known as Pupil Premium funding. To discuss this further, please contact the school office.
If your child is bringing a packed lunch, please ensure the box or bag is clearly labelled with his / her name. We encourage a healthy lifestyle, so we ask that parents try to make the packed lunches as healthy as possible. Lunchboxes are stored on trolleys in classrooms. If your child wishes to have school dinners on some days and packed lunches on others, ad-hoc lunch bookings are welcome, so you may just book school dinners via Parentpay for certain days .
Free School Meals
If your family is on a lower income and in receipt of certain benefits, then you may be entitled to free school meal vouchers to help until your child can return to school.
The eligible benefits include:
- Universal Credit with a household income of less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)
- Income-Based Jobseekers’ Allowance
- Income-Related Employment and Support Allowance
- Child Tax Credit, not entitled to Working Tax Credit and household income less than £16,190
- Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- Guarantee element of State Pension Credit
- Income Support
- Working Tax Credit ‘run on’ – the payment you receive for a further four weeks after you finish work
If you are in receipt of any of these benefits, and think you may be entitled to additional funding for your child, please apply online at www.lancashire.gov.uk or contact your Area Education Office on 01772 532109.
Free Fruit
Infant children have free fruit as part a government funded initiative. We encourage all children to try various fruit. Junior children can bring a small healthy snack for playtime.