School Lunches
New School Meal Provider: Cleverchefs
We’re excited to share that our school will soon be partnering with Cleverchefs to provide our school meals. Cleverchefs are known for their commitment to fresh, nutritious, and child-friendly meals, and we’re looking forward to the positive impact this will have on our pupils’ dining experience.
Cleverchefs are passionate about creating nutritious, delicious, and exciting meals that children love. Founded by Nick Collins (a former MasterChef: The Professionals contestant), Cleverchefs are committed to using fresh, locally sourced ingredients, and their ethos is all about providing perfection as standard. You can learn more about them in the attached brochure below.
New Meal Price: £2.80
As part of this transition, we’re pleased to announce a new reduced meal price of £2.80, down from the current £3.20. We hope this makes school meals more accessible and affordable for families.
Parent Action Required: Sign Up to the App
To access Cleverchefs’ services, parents will need to sign up to the new app. A letter with full instructions has already been sent home and is also available to download below. Please follow the steps outlined to ensure your child is registered and ready to enjoy their new meals.
The good news is that you can plan ahead! The app allows you to:
- View the weekly menu in advance. Also attached below.
- Discuss meal choices with your child over the weekend.
- Pre-order meals for the entire week in one go — saving time and avoiding last-minute decisions.
We hope this new system makes things easier for families and ensures every child gets a meal they’ll enjoy.
We are confident that Cleverchefs will bring a fresh and exciting approach to school lunches, and we look forward to seeing the positive impact on our pupils’ dining experience.
Thank you for your support as we make this positive change to our school meal service!
Sandwiches
Children may bring a packed lunch to school as an alternative to a school dinner. Sweets are not allowed. Please encourage children to have a balanced meal in their lunchbox, this could include a sandwich and an item of fruit or raw vegetables. Water is provided for all children at lunchtime. If drinks are brought from home they should be in a suitable non-glass container or flask.
All sandwich boxes and drinks containers are collected in at the beginning of the school day for safekeeping and stored in a safe place.
Free School Meals
Eligibility
This criteria for eligibility is where parents/guardians are in receipt of one or more of the following benefits:
- Income Support
- Income-based Job Seekers' 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 are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit, and have an annual gross income, of no more than £16,190 as assessed by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs1
- Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
No other benefits qualify for free school/college meals from Key Stage 2 and or pupil premium for Key Stage 1.
Applying for free school meals
A parent or guardian may wish to check their child's eligibility for Pupil Premium or continued free school meals (from Key Stage 2) and HC3S has an online service for this. The service allows you to check your own eligibility for free school/college meals, or you can check on behalf of someone else.
To complete a check you will need the following information for yourself, or the person you are checking on behalf of:
- Name, home address and email address
- National Insurance Number or National Asylum Support Service reference number
- Child or student's name, date of birth and school/college
Please note that by following the link below to the online eligibility checking service, you are leaving Hampshire County Council's website.
The data you enter on the screen will be used to process your request.
I would like to check for free meal eligibility
Pupil Premium is an important payment for schools and a really good opportunity for eligible parents to get even more support for their children in school.
Application forms are available from the School Office and when completed and presented together with the necessary evidence, these can be processed at the school office during school hours. All applications must be renewed every term. Entitlement to free meals ceases immediately the applicant is no longer in receipt of any of the above benefits. Parents must inform the School Office as soon as their entitlement ceases. We are always very happy to assist parents with any queries regarding free school meal entitlement.