Our School Meals
School meals matter. It has been well documented that children who eat nutritious meals every day and lead active lifestyles tend to excel. ACE Academies recognise that our schools are on the frontline of efforts to improve childhood nutrition and our collective health. Improving the meals that our pupils eat in schools is an important step to achieve that goal.
ACE Catering service is passionate about ensuring the well-being of young people, through healthy and balanced nutrition We pride ourselves on a high-quality in-house catering provision working closely with local suppliers to ensure we use as much local, seasonal, British and organic produce where we can. We see this as an important investment in our children and their future health and well-being.
Our talented Catering teams work together to achieve positive outcomes for our pupils and also collaborate with their local communities. Through improving school meals, we are not only providing important nutritional assistance, but are also helping pupils to be better equipped to feed their minds.
ACE catering teams are making positive steps to sustainably manage their energy, water and waste. Through the sustainable catering charter they are also actively increasing local and seasonal produce, using high welfare meats but less of it and increasing grains and pulses to minimise the impact of climate change.
Catering Strategy - Aspirational Core Purpose
“To transform school food culture across the Academies for Character and Excellence by becoming a nationally recognised sustainable school catering service offering freshly prepared, tasty, healthy meals prepared by exceptional teams that also add value to their schools through operating community projects, teaching practical life skills and creating healthy communities.”
How to order
The school uses School Gateway for ordering lunches which you can activate using a unique username and password. Click the button for details.
School lunches cost £2.50 per day.
For years 3, 4, 5 and 6, Bookings must be made using School Gateway by midnight on the Wednesday of the week before the date booking for.
If debts are incurred, then the school budget has to pay for them. This means that money which should be spent on all pupils' education in school is used to pay for debts incurred by individual parents / carers.
For children in Reception, 1 and 2, there will be no payment required as meals are provided free of charge for these years.
Cancelling lunches
If your child is unwell, you must call the school on 01392 790151 before 8.45am to report their absence. The office staff will then check if a meal has been booked and cancel this on the system. The payment will be credited to the account for future use. Parents/Carers must call each day of the absence in order for the credit to be applied. Failure to report an absence or reports after 8.45am will not be credited as the meals will already be being prepared at that time.
Free School Meals
Under the Government ‘Universal Infant Free School Meals’ scheme, children in Reception and Years 1 and 2 are entitled to a hot meal free of charge. However, parents and guardians are encouraged to apply for free school meals when they enrol their child in school regardless of which year they are in, as this can help their child’s school to attract additional pupil premium funding to support learning.
Children in Years 3 - 6 are required to pay for meals unless parents are in receipt of a means tested benefit and have registered for free school meals. A 'meal' is a main meal with vegetables, a dessert and a drink.
How to apply
The quickest and easiest way to apply for free school meals is through the Devon County Council Portal Please click here to apply.
The person making the application should be the person who holds parental responsibility for the child that they are applying for. This will result in an instant decision direct to your phone, tablet or computer. A print out of the result or screen shot confirming eligibility should be shown to the School Office allowing free meals to commence straight away.
If you are unable to apply online you can complete an application and email it to freeshcoolmeals@devon.gov.uk. Alternatively, you can post your application to FSM Team, Room L102, County Hall, Exeter, EX2 4QD. Forms are also available at the school office. Parents and carers can also ring the Education Helpline on 0345 155 1019.
Meet the Trinity
Team
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XXXXXX (Catering Assistant)
XXXXXX (Catering Assistant)
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Meet the Team
Cool Milk!
In conjunction with the UK Government's Nursery Milk Scheme, our school provides a milk scheme that is available to all of our pupils. School milk is free for all under-fives, free for children who are entitled to statutory free school meals and subsidised for pupils aged five or older at 22p per day.
Each pupil that registers with Cool Milk will receive a 189ml portion of semi-skimmed milk every day, which is delivered fresh and chilled to the classroom.
Drinking a portion of milk at mid-morning break offers protein, calcium and other vital nutrients, important for children's growth and development. It can also be a sensible way to bridge the gap between breakfast and lunch. Click on the following link to find out why milk is great for children: www.coolmilk.com/whyschoolmilk
If you would like to register your child for milk you can do so online at www.coolmilk.com/register or pick up a registration form from the school office and return it to FREEPOST COOL MILK (no other details are required).
Through our curriculum, our schools ensure that every child understands the impact of the food they eat on their health and the environment, and has the food skills to live a healthy life.
“The best schools do a brilliant job of weaving food education – cooking, growing vegetables, even modest efforts at animal husbandry – into school life and the curriculum”
School Food Plan
Food Education
All of our schools are part of the national Food For Life programme which is a whole school approach to school food encouraging excellence in school food, food education, growing and community partnerships, allowing our children to expand their palates, try new foods, understand where their food comes from and make healthy choices.
Food For Life
The emotional health and wellbeing of our pupils is just as important as their physical health and wellbeing. It is important our pupils learn to manage and articulate their emotions, deal with different situations and communicate in appropriate ways in order to flourish and support effective learning.