Student Voice: Food preparation and the lunch menu

There have been a number of questions regarding the lunch provision in school and we want to reassure our parents that we take this feedback seriously. There has been a meeting with John (our Head Chef and Catering Manager) who is keen to provide a good service and he will be feeding back to his staff about the specific questions and concerns about food preparation and how this can be improved.

However, we have also agreed:

• An additional menu option will be offered daily, to supplement the rice; this might be pasta, or it might be a different form of rice dish or vegetable to offer more choice.
• John is keen to meet with the KS2 school councillors (we have one from each class in Y3,4,5 and 6) to listen to their ideas about how the dishes served can be more appetising and appealing and to the children’s taste. We can't promise that he can deliver all their requests but we agree it is important our students have a voice in this matter. John will meet with them regularly to hear and address their concerns, questions and suggestions.
• If there are any menu changes - we will do our best to communicate those to both students and their families asap.
• We will provide more photos of the food and lunchtime experience.

We need to continue to ask for your support in understanding that there are still restrictions on our catering service due to COVID19. These include:

• Disruptions to the supply chain for different foods at different times depending on restrictions / changed guidance in the areas where suppliers are based. This means sometimes menus need to be adapted.
• Not being able to serve any salad or cut fruit at this time.
• Currently, not being able to serve sandwiches.

These restrictions are subject to a monthly review and as soon as guidance changes, the service will be amended accordingly.

Thank you again for your patience and understanding as we work to improve things.