Hutchinson Catering will be providing our school lunches from April 2024. Here is some information about them (you can read more on the welcome newsletter below)
So let us tell you a little about us...
So, what’s for lunch?
Carefully selected nutritionally balanced main courses served with colourful selections of fresh vegetables, potatoes, pasta or rice. Followed by a delicious homemade dessert, a choice of fresh fruit or creamy yoghurt
If your child has an allergy please contact the schools office for a new special diet form. Our nutritionist will prepare a specific menu to ensure their lunch is safe and delicious
5 Key Facts about our menus...
The leaflet below explains how the online ordering and payment system works however this information explains a little bit more about Appetite (the online app for ordering meals and paying for them).
How do I get set up with Appetite?
Complete the leaflet we have sent home with your child (or you can see below), send it back into school and we will share this information with Appetite. They will send you a direct email to set up your account. Please note that in order for your account to be created, we will be sharing your information with Appetite. You can view Appetite’s Privacy Policy on the following link: https://appetite.hutchisoncatering.co.uk/termsofuse/Privacy-Policy.pdf
How do I order meals on Appetite?
With Appetite, you can easily order and pay for your child's meals with just a few clicks. You can order on a daily, weekly, monthly or even termly basis. The system will allow you to place as many orders in advance as you like. You can also make a same-day order up to 8:55am.
How do I pay for my child's school meal?
School meals will continue to be £2.60 per day.
You do not need to pay if your child is:
If you pay for your child’s meals, then you have two options on Appetite:
To place an order, you need to ensure you have the relevant credit on your account or a Direct Debit set up. If you do not have these, you will be unable to order and receive a reminder message to make payment. With Direct Debit, Appetite collects the payment on a monthly basis and it is collected in arrears. Your Direct Debit amount can vary depending on the amount of meals taken within the period so a statement will be sent to you two weeks prior to the collection, detailing the exact date and the amount to be collected, as well as all the meals included.
Please remember to cancel your order if your child will not be having the meal at lunchtime, otherwise you may still be charged. This also helps cut down on food wastage.
Who do I contact if I need help or support with Appetite?
We hope that you find Appetite easy to use and convenient for ordering and paying for your child's school meals. Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Appetite support can be contacted via email on appetite@hutchisoncatering.co.uk or by telephone on 0191 2497899
A school lunch is an important part of a child’s day, providing an opportunity for them to socialise with their friends, try new foods and re-fuel ready to continue their learning in the afternoon. However, for families of children with special dietary needs, we appreciate that eating a school lunch may cause nervousness. We have a policy and procedure in place to ensure that children with special dietary needs are kept safe at lunch time but also get the opportunity to have a balanced lunch with their friends.
To ensure your child is catered for safely each day, we need to collect some essential information about your child’s requirements. Please complete the form attached below and return to the school.
If the special dietary need is a medical need (e.g. allergy or intolerance), please also provide a note from a health professional (Doctor or Dietician) confirming your child’s needs. This can be a letter for your health professional confirming the diagnosis, a exerpt from medical records which are freely available your GP or through the NHS app. We will not be able to process this request without this information. This will then be passed on to the catering team who will work with the Company Nutritionist and Operations Manager to assess whether it is safe for us to cater for your child.
We will do our utmost to cater for all children, where it is deemed safe to do so, and individual menus will be put in place for each child registered with us as having a special dietary requirement. However, on occasion we may feel it is not safe to cater for a child. This decision is not taken lightly and will always have the safety of the child as the highest priority. It usually occurs when a child has a very restricted diet or medical condition, coupled with the limitations of catering for large numbers in a school. We are not legally obliged to cater for all pupils, but we will do our upmost.
Following this assessment, we will work with you to devise a menu suitable for the child that is in line with the menu available to the rest of the school, adapting recipes where possible. We will endeavour to provide you with a bespoke menu for your child within 10 working days of receiving the request. In the meantime please provide a packed lunch or we can offer a jacket potato with a suitable filling.
Partnership approach
To provide a meal for a pupil with an allergy that is balanced, safe and something they like, it is important that schools, caterers and parents (and/or pupil in secondary schools) work in partnership. It is the parents’ responsibility to ensure that they provide Hutchison Catering with accurate, detailed information about their child’s dietary requirements and to provide updates, in writing, if these change at any point whilst we are catering for their child. Depending on the severity and complexity of the special diet we may want to meet with you to discuss your child’s needs.
For details on how we process and store your child’s personal data please see our privacy notice on our website https://hutchisoncatering.co.uk/.
L Whiting
L Whiting RPHNtr
Nutrition and Food Development Manager (Hutchinson Catering)