School meals

Lunches are provided free of charge for children in Reception to Year Two as well as those families eligible for Free School Meals.

A vegetarian option is always available and the kitchen is usually able to cater for special dietary/medical needs if given advance notice – please contact the school office so we can help you organise this if necessary.

Packed lunches

Many pupils choose to bring a packed lunch to school rather than have a school meal. We would always  encourage all children to have school dinners where possible, as research shows that a school lunch is nutritionally superior to most packed lunches and can lead to improved behaviour attainment.

Breakfast Club sessions run from 8.00am until the start of the school day, and cost £2.50 per session. Children can get involved in a range of activities and receive a breakfast consisting of cereal, toast or crumpet, yogurt and milk or juice. The club is run by trained members of staff who supervise the children at all times.

Some parents may be entitled to receive free school meals for their children.

In order to determine if you are eligible and to apply please click here.

We have a number of children and staff who have severe, potentially life-threatening nut allergies, not only are they allergic to nuts, they also cannot tolerate having any food substances that contain nuts. Therefore, we aim for Ark Blacklands to be a NUT FREE school. Please ensure that your child does not bring any nuts or food items to school which contain nuts as a listed ingredient.

Our “Nut-Free Approach” means that the following items should not be brought into school:

• Packets of nuts
• Peanut butter or Nutella sandwiches
• Fruit and cereal bars that contain nuts
• Chocolate bars or sweets that contain nuts
• Sesame seed rolls (children allergic to nuts may also have a severe reaction to sesame)
• Cakes made with nuts
• Any home cooked meals for packed lunches that are made from nuts