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Catering and School Meals
Our School Meals:
Our catering service is provided by Stockton Borough Council.
The food and drinks we provide meet the national school food standards. We evaluate our food and drink provision regularly against the standards and seek and respond to student voice and opinions on the food we provide for them.
We have recently introduced oily fish, wholegrains, seeds, vegetable snacks and milk into our menus to further enhance our healthy menu choices.
Our Menus:
Menus are rotated and are varied in accordance with seasons and theme weeks to enable us to offer a huge variety of healthy choices to suit all tastes and preferences.
In accordance with Food Standards Agency guidance, allergens are displayed to pupils, staff and parents. Please refer to the information sheet below for information.
Should you have any further queries, our Catering Manager will be happy to help.
Pre-Order Kiosks
Pre-Order Kiosks allow pupils to pre-order their food which they can then pick up later from designated collection points within the school, meaning they can avoid the queues in the dining area. For pupils attending lunch time clubs, this is ideal, as they can maximise the time they have to spend doing the activities they enjoy.
The pre-order service offers a wide selection of cold grab and go foods. Orders can be placed between 8.00am and 08.45am for lunch the same day, or 12:25pm to 13:10pm for lunch the following day.
Having made and confirmed their choices, pupil accounts are debited with the amount straightaway, and the pupil can see their new balance displayed. The kiosk then issues a ‘ticket’ confirming food and drink items selected, and a matching ticket is sent electronically to catering who prepare the order for collection.
On collection, the pupil hands over their ticket, and in return is given the corresponding items.
Key Points:
- Pre-ordered food or snacks from kiosks are collected later from designated pick-up points
- Meal selections are recorded and account balances updated
- Food delivery is faster, reducing queueing and dining hall traffic
- Pre-ordered meals result in an improved catering service, achieving cost efficiencies without compromising service
- Reduction in food wastage and improved stock and production controls
Cashless Catering
The school operates a cashless catering system that uses biometrics. This system speeds up the queueing process for your child, allows anonymity for students in receipt of free school meals and provides an opportunity for you to receive reports on your child’s food purchasing if you wish. The system also supports the management of students with special dietary needs.
New Year 7 students will be registered on their first day.
It is up to you how much you will allow your child to spend and how often you wish them to credit their accounts, though our preference would be weekly. Accounts can be credited in school at our re-value units situated outside of the dining hall, or online via schoolcomms.
Children on free school meals will be automatically credited each day the price of a free school meal. You may wish to also credit an additional amount to their account.
Prices
Free School Meals
Registration for free school meal eligibility
Free School Meals are changing from September 2026!
- Previous ‘transitional protections’ will permanently end. All families will be required to submit a new application, as transitional protections will cease at the end of the 2025/26 academic year.
- Children from households receiving Universal Credit with annual earned income of £7,400 or less (the existing FSM threshold prior to expansion) will be eligible for Targeted FSM.
- NEW CATEGORY - Children from households in receipt of Universal Credit with annual household earnings above £7,400 will be entitled to Expanded FSM.
To receive free school meals from September 2026 ALL FAMILIES must apply or reapply for FSM using the below link from Stockton Borough Council.
Applications can be made straight away and need to be made by 1st September to ensure that your child(ren) receive a free meal on their return in September.
We want to make sure that we are providing your child with the best education and support we can. Healthy school food can help pupils establish healthy habits for life and help to improve pupils’ readiness to learn.
You may be entitled to receive free school meals if you are in receipt of certain benefits or support. You could also raise additional pupil premium funding for your child’s school to fund support like extra tuition, additional teaching staff or after school activities. The information collected in this process will allow us to make this assessment.
What to do
All checks are completed by Stockton Borough Council To see if your children can get free school meals (FSM), please go to:
If there is any information you cannot find, or you are having problems understanding, please get in touch.
Important
- If you have multiple children attending different schools, you will need to complete a separate form for each school.
- If your child is currently in Year 6, please make sure you select Northfield, and not their Primary School while completing the form.
- Please make a note, or screenshot, the reference number that you receive at the end of the process – we may need this to communicate with the local authority if there are any issues with them passing on the outcome of the application.
We are committed to ensuring that the personal and sensitive information that we hold about you is protected and kept safe and secure, and we have measures in place to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal information. Stockton Borough Council will use the information you provide to assess entitlement to free school meals. The information may also be shared with other Council departments to offer benefits and services.