Food & Mealtimes at Sandy Lane

At Sandy Lane, we believe that healthy, nutritious food is a key ingredient in helping children feel their best, learn well, and enjoy their day. A balanced diet supports growing minds and bodies — and building positive eating habits early sets children up for lifelong wellbeing.

🍽️ School Meals

We’re really proud of the meals we serve at Sandy Lane. All of our school dinners are freshly cooked on-site each day by our wonderful kitchen team, led by our experienced school cook. Because we manage our meals independently, we can shape our menus around what our children enjoy most — and we’re always looking for ways to encourage healthy choices and happy tummies!

The team is also supported by our Trust’s Head of Catering and Regional Catering Manager, ensuring our meals meet high nutritional standards and are varied, tasty, and balanced.

✅ All children in Reception, Year 1, and Year 2 receive a free school meal every day.
For children in Years 3–6, school meals are available at £2.55 per day and can be booked and paid for online through My Child At School (MCAS). We’re a cashless school, so please use MCAS for all meal payments.

Each day, families can choose from:

• A hot main meal or vegetarian option

• A jacket potato with a choice of toppings

• A sandwich option
  Plus salad, bread, and a daily dessert (fruit, yoghurt, or pudding of the day).

🥪 Packed Lunches & Snacks

If your child prefers a packed lunch from home, that’s no problem! We just ask that lunches are:

• Healthy and balanced (no sweets, fizzy drinks, or chocolate please)

• Clearly named and in a strong lunch box

• Nut-free (see below for more info)

At breaktime, children may bring a healthy snack such as fruit or veg, and they’re encouraged to drink plain water throughout the day (in a named water bottle).

🚫 We Are a Nut-Free School

We have children in school with severe nut allergies, and keeping them safe is something we take very seriously. Even tiny traces of nuts — on hands, packaging, or surfaces — can cause serious allergic reactions.

To help protect all our pupils, we ask that no nuts or nut-containing products are brought into school in lunchboxes or snacks. This includes:

• Peanut butter sandwiches

• Fruit/cereal bars with nuts

• Nut-based cakes or chocolate bars

• Sesame seed rolls

• Loose packs of nuts

Items that are labelled “may contain nuts” (where nuts are not an ingredient but cross-contamination may be possible) are okay, but please do double-check labels and be mindful.

💬 A Quick Note About Meal Payments

We kindly ask that all school meals are paid for in advance via MCAS. If your child is having a packed lunch instead, just let us know through the system.

When meals aren’t paid for, it creates a debt that must be covered by the school budget — which means less money available for resources, enrichment, and experiences for all our children. We know how busy life can be, and we’re always happy to help if you need support with logging in, checking balances, or meal planning.

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If you ever have any questions about meals, dietary needs, allergies, or lunch options — please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We’re here to help, and we want to make sure every child enjoys delicious, healthy food and a happy mealtime at school.