School Meals
Lunch Experience
We are delighted to work with Cucina, our catering company.
Cucina is proud to take a hands-on and creative approach to ensure there is something on the menu for everyone in our school to enjoy.
There is a three-week menu cycle to make sure there is plenty of variety and that it is not just the same things on offer each day. They also run regular theme days so students can try different cuisines if they want to.
Cucina is a company packed with real ‘foodies’, whose aim is to bring restaurant-quality food into education. Each of their school restaurants has its own trained chef and all Cucina meals are cooked from scratch, starting with fresh ingredients - many of which are locally sourced.
By creating a wide variety of tasty dishes that students love to eat, they help make meal times that little bit more special. In teaching them nutrition doesn’t come at the sacrifice of flavour, it embeds an ethos around food that sets positive foundations for life and a love of all things food.
Opal Play
At Our Lady of the Rosary, we are proud to be an OPAL Play Platinum School. We achieved this award in recognition of the quality of the outdoor play provision we provide for our children at playtime and lunchtime.
OPAL Play develops opportunities for physical activity, socialisation, co-operation, coordination, resilience, creativity, imagination and enjoyment through improved play.
The OPAL Outdoor Play and Learning Programme is the result of 17 years testing and development in over 250 schools. It is based on the idea that, as well as learning through high quality teaching, children learn when they play. Approximately 20% of children’s time in school is playtime so we want to make sure our provision is the best that it can be.
One reason we value OPAL play so much is that childhood play has changed and many children no longer get their play needs met outside of school.
In 2020, the figures for primary age children are:
Average screen time per day 5 hours
Average outdoor play time per week 5 hours
Percentage of UK children who only play outdoors with other children at school is 56%
There are many proven benefits for schools that participate in the OPAL Programme. These include: more enjoyment of school, less teaching time lost to disputes between children, less accidents and greatly improved behaviour.
Free School Meals
Universal Infant Free School Meals and Free School Meals
You may know that all children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are automatically entitled to a free school meal, and this is called Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM). You can see the options for lunch each week on the website under 'Parents' and 'Lunch Menu'.
This does not mean that your child has to have a meal through school as they can bring a packed lunch. However, as a school we would strongly recommend it as children will receive a hot meal that is nutritionally balanced. It is also an important part of the school day as they practise their table manners and improve their social skills.
UIFSM is not the same as being eligible for Free School Meals (FSM), which can run throughout your child's time in school and not just in infants. You may be eligible if you are in receipt of certain benefits. When your child is on the FSM register, the school is given extra funding, and this is called Pupil Premium. Pupil Premium can be used by the school in a variety of ways to help support your child, and this can extend to the school funding 'extras' such as your child's trips or music lessons. Your child is eligible for Pupil Premium, also called 'Ever 6' for six years after they are no longer on the Free School Meal register. This will more than likely mean that your child will continue to benefit in secondary school. The application process is really simple. Please see documents below.