School Meals
Lunches at Cotham Gardens are provided by Alliance in Partnership (AIP).
To view the latest menu, please click on the link below.
Allergens Message For Parents - October 2024
Payment of School Meals
How much do school meals cost?
Currently school meals are priced as follows;
- 1 day - £2.68
- 2 days - £5.36
- 3 days - £8.04
- 4 days - £10.72
- 5 days - £13.40
How do I book a meal for my child?
All meals must be both booked and paid for in advance using the Arbor Parent Portal or App. If your child receives Free School Meals, you must still book their meal via Arbor.
Booking Meal Menu choices on the Parent Portal or Parent App
How do I pay for my child's meal?
Payments are made when you book your child's meal via the Arbor Parent Portal or App.
School Meals can be paid for via the Arbor App using a debit or credit card. Arbor is easy to use and is available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.
Payment accounts and topping up the meal account on the Parent Portal
What if I miss a payment?
We are not able to provide a meal to your child where it has not been booked or paid for. In this case we will ring you to ask you to bring a packed lunch to school for your child. The school is not obliged to provide food; its duty is to provide education. The option of providing food is a service that parents either pay for or are eligible for free school meals (see below for details).
All historic outstanding arrears should be settled as soon as possible.
Meals are ordered with the kitchen by 09.45 a.m. each day, therefore if a child is sent home for any reason after this time the meal will still need to be paid for.
Allergies
What is a food allergy?
A food allergy is an abnormal immune response to food. The signs and symptoms may range from mild to severe. They may include itchiness, swelling of the tongue, vomiting, diarrhea, hives, trouble breathing, or low blood pressure. This typically occurs within minutes to several hours of exposure. When the symptoms are severe, it is known as anaphylaxis. Food intolerance and food poisoning are separate conditions.
Common foods involved include cow's milk, peanuts, eggs, shellfish, fish, tree nuts, soy, wheat, rice, and fruit. The common allergies vary depending on the country. Risk factors include a family history of allergies, vitamin D deficiency, obesity, and high levels of cleanliness. Allergies occur when immunoglobulin E (IgE), part of the body's immune system, binds to food molecules. A protein in the food is usually the problem. This triggers the release of inflammatory chemicals such as histamine.
It is important to take food allergy seriously. Under the new Food Information regulations, our caterers have a legal responsibility to provide the correct allergen information about the ingredients that is in the food they make or serve, to our students, staff and visitors.
Loose foods
The EU law has listed 14 allergens that need to be identified if they are used as ingredients in a dish. This means that from 13 December 2014, all food businesses will need to provide information about the allergenic ingredients used in foods sold or provided by them.
As a food business serving loose foods, our caterers have to supply information for every item on their menu that contains any of the 14 allergens as ingredients.
Gluten-free and no gluten containing ingredients
If caterers state that any of the foods they serve are gluten-free, there are strict rules surrounding this. The foods that are served to you that are declared as gluten-free must not contain more than 20mg/kg of gluten.
If our caterers are making a gluten-free claim on loose food that they sell, they must consider whether they have the required processes in place to prevent cross-contamination.
If our caterers processes cannot be guaranteed or controlled sufficiently, they will need to consider more factual statements, such as ‘no gluten containing ingredients’ which is also known as NGCI.
Either way, they will need to prevent cross-contamination as much as they can.
How our caterers are aware of their allergen information
Details of these allergens for each of the caterer’s standard recipe is listed on the Allergen Matrix found within a file that they hold on site.
It is important that recipes are followed correctly to ensure that the correct information is given to the customer.
To help to identify which dishes contain allergens they:
▪ make sure that their kitchen staff use the same recipes every time;
▪ keep ingredients in the original containers where possible;
▪ make sure that staff are aware of where allergen information is stored and how it is kept;
▪ ensure that the allergen information is kept up to date (for example, if they receive new recipes from Head Office or ingredients are substituted);
▪ always check deliveries to make sure what is delivered is what was ordered and ensure that the relevant labelling information is provided with the order;
▪ check that the food delivered is the same brand that is normally used, as different brands might have different ingredients.
The role of our caterers
Please note that AIP Catering have a nut-free policy on site.
The caterers are aware of all individual student allergies and specific dietary requirements and provide clear labelling to all food served in the dining rooms at each site.
The caterers provide copies of the relevant school’s 3 weekly menu cycle. The weekly menu is also placed in the dining room in each school.
The role of our pupils
Students will be fully involved in discussions about their food allergies and will be asked to contribute as much as possible.
The role our parents/Carers
Parents/Carers should provide the school with sufficient and up to date information about their son/daughter’s food allergies. They must carry out any action they have agreed to as part of its implementation. For example, provide medicines and equipment and ensure that they, or another nominated adult, are contactable at all times.
Parents/Carers are responsible for ensuring that any required medication to be kept on site (eg EpiPens, inhalers, specific antihistamine) is supplied, in date and replaced as necessary.
The role of the school
Once Parents/Carers inform the school that their child has a food allergen, the school will:
▪ provide the parents/carers with an allergen request form to be complete
▪ share the completed allergen request form with the caterers
▪ inform the child's class teacher of the allergen
▪ update the child's school record and meal booking system
▪ update the meal booking system with the allergen menu provided by the caterers
▪ provide the school kitchen with a photo of the child
▪ highlight the child in the lunch registers
For further information, please see contact the school office.