SCHOOL MEALS & snacks

At St Thomas', our children can choose either to have a 'School Dinner' or bring a packed lunch in from home for lunchtime.  We use Lancashire School Catering Services to provide our 'School Dinners' and we have a dedicated team, who work hard to produce a wide variety of meals.  Our food is cooked fresh each day in our school kitchen by our school cook. Mrs Bainbridge, and her team.  

What's on the Menu?

All LCC menus are planned to comply with School Food Standards and all new dishes are tested by children. All meat is Red Tractor Farm Assured, the fish is MSC certified and the eggs are free-range Lion brand. Lancashire Catering Services use a number of organic products throughout the menus. There is always fresh fruit and salad, bread and locally produced yoghurt available daily. All our menus are checked using a recognised programme to analyse nutrition. They also work with Lancashire Healthy Schools and support the Change 4 Life campaign. The result is a menu your child will enjoy and that will prepare them for learning in the afternoon.

To make the most of seasonal produce the menus are changed at a minimum of twice a year.

Whilst every effort is made to produce the published menus, please note that the food on offer may vary occasionally subject to availability and individual school requirements. 

School Dinner Charges

Charges are currently £3.10 per day, but will be increasing to £3.25 per day from April 30th 2026 in line with the increases from Lancashire County Council. 

Please remember that children moving into Year 3 are no longer eligible for Universal Free School Meals and will now be charged for school dinners. This does not affect your child if they are eligible for government funded free school meals. If you feel your child might still be eligible for free school meals please apply here https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/children-education-families/schools/free-school-meals/?page=3

Lunch Options

We ask families to decide between packed lunches and school dinners on a half-termly basis. If you wish to change your meal pattern you need to contact the School Office in readiness for the start of the next half term. However, if there is a special 'Themed' school dinner option  e.g. Christmas, Harvest, Book Day etc. your child can still opt in to these events on an 'ad hoc' basis.  If you wish to change your child’s meal pattern, please contact the office: office@st-thomas.lancs.sch.uk before the start of each half term.

Packed Lunches

If your child chooses to have packed lunches, they will eat in the school hall with their classmates.  We encourage all children and families to ensure that all lunches are healthy and nutritious and include a drink, so that children have the energy for their afternoon learning and sessions. We ask that sugary sandwich fillings, sugary snacks, chocolates, sweets and fizzy drinks are not included in packed lunches. 

 Snacks

Most children require a snack at morning break to keep them going through the day. Our school cook provides toast each morning at break time. This can be pre -ordered at a cost of 25p for KS2 children and 20p for Reception and KS1 children.  This is provided free of charge for children who are in receipt of Pupil Premium / Free School Meals. If not eating toast, children are allowed to bring in a healthy snack for morning break time. 

We encourage children to bring in healthy snacks full of vitamins and minerals containing no added salt, fat or sugar. Many of these will help contribute to their 5 daily portions of fruit and vegetables, keep them alert and help them concentrate. It can be hard during the week to think of suitable items for them to bring in to school, but we are aiming, with the help of the children, to not only support them in making healthy choices regarding snacks, but to also reduce food packaging and waste. 

Providing snacks in a small, named, recyclable container is ideal. Children in EYFS and KS1 have a daily snack of fruit or veg provided for free by the government, so additional snacks for these ages may not be required.

If you are intending to send in healthy snacks with your child please limit them to the list below. 

• Vegetable sticks – such as celery, cucumber, peppers or carrot, a range of colour ensures different vitamins and minerals. 
• A piece of cheese or babybel etc
• A piece of fresh or dried fruit, high in soluble fibre and vitamins would also be a great snack– pineapple, mango, kiwi, plain raisins, apricots, blueberries, banana slices. 
• Bread sticks, plain pretzels, banana bread, malt loaf, oat/rice cakes and small pitta breads are also good snacks, providing children with carbohydrate to sustain them in-between meals. 
• All snacks must be nut free. Items brought into school should be carefully checked by you, to ensure this. We have pupils and families who are severely allergic to a range of nuts. 

We are aiming for a common-sense approach, with the key being to keep it healthy.  Please remember that healthy snacks are essential and we ask for no chocolate,  biscuits, cakes, sweets or crisps.

We need the children to stay hydrated and so please ensure they bring a named water bottle into school daily. Squash and fruit juice are not permitted. We hope that with your help, we can encourage the children to develop healthy eating habits that become a normal part of everyday life. By keeping high calorie snacks to a minimum and establishing healthy eating habits early on, improvements can be made for a child’s quality of life both in the short and long term.

Click here for some helpful ideas for healthy packed lunches (NHS website)