Our school dinners are supplied by HCL Catering and are cooked fresh every day by our experienced team. 

Menu Highlights:

At HCL, we have a dedicated team of professionals who work together to create tasty, exciting dishes for all the pupils we serve across the 450+ sites we provide services to. Our core commitments and values are demonstrated in every serving as we bring high-quality, nutritious ingredients together to create dishes your children will be happy to eat.

At Clipstone Brook you have the Pupils Choice Extra Menu for Primary schools includes a daily choice of four menu choices including:

• A meat or fish option
• A vegetarian option
• Alternate options of Jacket potatoes with varied fillings or Pasta options.
• A daily cold option
• Fresh bread
• Dessert (including fruit)
• Medical need meals
• Vegetables and salads, through access to a salad bar with a minimum of six varied daily options.

Our Standards & Accreditations

As a parent, you can be rest assured that every meal we provide meets Government Nutritional Standards at the very minimum, as well as the following:

• A minimum of 82% of our menu is cooked from scratch onsite daily. 
• We change our menus between Summer/Autumn and Winter/Spring and run them on three-weekly cycles to ensure the best quality, seasonal ingredients are used, as well as ensuring we keep food options fresh and exciting.
• All of our Primary Schools take part in a weekly plant-based meal day to support sustainability and healthy eating.
• Silver Food for Life and SUGA.RWISE accredited[SR1] .
• We offer consistent easy access to drinking water, through our popular hydration station, which encourages students and staff to enjoy fruit-infused water at no cost.

Allergy Management
We take our commitment to allergy management very seriously and understand the importance of having strict processes in place to ensure every meal is served safely. As such we operate a strict no-nuts policy across all our primary school contracts, something we felt was necessary to ensure optimal safety.

Additionally, we have invested in our own pioneering online allergy system, which allows you to detail your child’s medical requirements, upload photos and medical documents alongside specific information relating to their special dietary needs. This supports our efforts to provide an easy-to-use, fully accessible and effective service to all pupils and parents, ensuring that our mealtimes are inclusive, and no child feels different.

Find out more info at https://hcl.co.uk/allergy-overview

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School dinners are free for all children who qualify for Pupil Premium and those from reception to year 2 otherwise they cost:

£2.70 per day 
£13.50 weekly 
 

Pupil Premium (Free School Meals)

Depending on a families personal circumstances children may qualify for Pupil Premium (Free School Meals).  

The government gives the school additional funding for every pupil premium child so it is very important that every child, regardless of year group, registers if they qualify.  Although every child in Reception class, Year 1, and Year 2 in any state-funded school will get a free school meal every day older children can also get free school meals, but you have to apply. Your child will get a free school meal if you receive a qualifying benefit.

Children in our nursery may be eligible too. If they are they will receive a free school meal on the days they attend school for a full day. 

Regardless of the year group it is important that you apply for pupil premium if you qualify.  The additional funding not only supports the school it can help you too!  It helps us fund any additional learning support your child may need in class.

In order to claim FSMs a parent must be claiming one of the following benefits:

• they are 3 or 4 years old and receiving government-funded Free Entitlement in any OFSTED registered childcare provider and their parents are in receipt of one or more of the benefits used to access eligibility for free school meals
• Universal Credit
• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
• Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credits

or if they have been:

• looked after by the local authority for at least one day
• have been adopted from care in the local authority
• have left care through special guardianship; and subject to a child arrangement order setting out with whom the child is to live (formerly known as residence orders) in Central Bedfordshire

If you think that you are eligible to apply for FSMs for your child, or if you are not sure, you may want to contact the CBC Customer Services helpdesk on 0300 300 8000 to advise you. Please have your National Insurance number available when you ring.

Alternatively,  if you do qualify please contact CBC on 0300 300 8306 to apply.

Please click here to find out if you might qualify. 

Packed Lunches

Ever struggle to know what to put in your child’s lunch box to make sure it is healthy and varies day by day?  Have a look at healthy packed lunches for ideas and for further practical guide to packed lunches.