All of our meals are freshly prepared on a daily basis. It is our aim to ensure that all students can choose from a wide range of healthy, tasty and nutritious meals and products.

If a student has a special diet or any food allergies we would appreciate if you could inform the school.

Note: Our school endeavours as far as possible to be a nut-free school. This includes sesame seeds.  We have quite a number of students in school who have severe nut allergies and can be seriously affected by someone else who is eating or may have recently eaten nuts.  

Please encourage your child to understand that eating a nut product (including items such as peanut butter sandwiches and Nutella bars) can have a serious effect on a student later on in the classroom.

At QEHS we like to offer students a more flexible and informal service, including:

  • A ‘grab and go’ provision for students who do sports and other activities on a lunchtime.
  • A pre-order system which means less queuing at lunchtime. Students can pre-order their lunch at breakfast or morning break and it will be ready for collection at lunchtime.
  • Vending machines located in the main school to purchase a variety of food and drinks throughout the day and for after-school activities.

Mid-morning Break: 11.15am to 11.30am

During break time a wide range of food and drink is available including the breakfast items mentioned above, sandwiches and wraps, fresh fruit and yoghurt, and a selection of juices and flavoured water. Hot drinks are available from the vending machines.

Lunchtime Service 12.30pm to 1.20pm

We offer a varied healthy menu including a two-course set meal of the day for £2.65, a meal deal offer, and individually priced menu items including:

  • Daily specials
  • Filled jacket potatoes
  • Paninis and pizza
  • Hot wraps
  • Pasta pots with a selection of sauces
  • Curry pots with a selection of sauces and mini naan bread
  • Fresh soups
  • Selection of sandwiches with a variety of fillings
  • Salad bowls
  • Hot and cold desserts plus fruit pots, yoghurts, fresh fruit
  • Home baked items, i.e., scones, flapjack
  • Selection of fruit juices, milk, milkshakes, smoothies, water and flavoured water

Our menu is produced in line with the Government’s new food standards. For those students who bring a packed lunch to school we ask parents to refrain from including confectionery, crisps or fizzy drinks.

Our three-week menu is available to view: QEHS Menu (PDF)

Please note: Our school endeavours as far as possible to be a nut-free school. This includes sesame seeds.  We have quite a number of students in school who have severe nut allergies and can be seriously affected by someone else who is eating or may have recently eaten nuts.  Please encourage your child to understand that eating a nut product (including items such as peanut butter sandwiches and Nutella bars) can have a serious effect on a student later on in the classroom.

Parents/carers are expected to inform the school about any food allergies or special dietary requirements that their child may have.

Information relating to individual needs should be discussed with the school and the catering manager prior to their child starting school. 

Please note: it is recommended that parents/carers supply a medical/dietitian letter to support the special diet requirements as self-diagnosed or personal food preferences are not able to be accommodated.

The school operates a biometric cashless school meals system. The biometric system is based on fingertip recognition technology. Every student is issued with an account which allows them to buy food and drink at morning break and lunchtime using their fingertip or pin number.

All payments should be made online via My Child at School app/website, which also provides information on school meal balances and purchases. My Child at School also enables you to view school meal balances and purchases and top up school meals money at any time. Download the app: If you have a smartphone, please download My Child at School from your app store (Android and iPhone). You will be able to check the balance, top up the account and see that the money has been added to your child’s school meals account under the ‘Dinner’ icon/panel.

A daily spend limit can be applied to a student’s account; if you would like further information on this please contact our Catering Manager via Reception.

Getting started on My Child at School

Either visit the My Child at School website or download the app

If you have changed your email or mobile phone number please contact the admin@qehs.net and they will update your records to enable you to log in to My Child at School.

  • To start, click on the Reset Password link
  • On the next screen, enter your email address and tick the I’m not a robot box
  • Click the Send Reset Email button
  • You will receive an email from My Child at School. Click on the Reset link inside this email
  • You will then be asked to Reset your Password
  • Follow the instructions to Confirm and Update
  • You will now be able to log in.

Online Payments

On the My Child at School website …

  1. In the Dinner Money panel, enter the amount you would like to add and click Add to Basket
  2. At the top of the screen, the shopping cart will indicate there is an item to checkout
  3. Click the shopping cart icon and then click Checkout on the pop-up message
  4. On the next screen, click Checkout
  5. Enter your Address
  6. Tick ‘Save card details for quick payments in future’ if preferred
  7. Click Confirm and Pay
  8. Enter card details if not already saved
  9. Click Make Payment.

On the  My Child at School App…

  • Select the Dinner icon
  • Select Add Dinner Money
  • Enter the amount and select Add to Basket
  • Select Checkout
  • Pay By Card is selected (tick Save information for future payments if you would like to save your card details)
  • Enter your address
  • Select Next
  • Enter your card details and Make Payment.

If it is not possible for you to use the My Child at School website or app, please contact the Finance Office on finance@qehs.net and we will arrange for you to be sent a PayPoint barcode voucher to enable you to make payment at one of the many PayPoint terminals sited in shops in the local area.

Account Balance

Students’ accounts should maintain a credit balance at all times. We will endeavour to notify students if their balance is low or the account has insufficient funds. Contact will be made with parents/carers via My Child at School where insufficient funds are available or there is money owing on the student’s account. You can also check the balance on the My Child at School app.

If a student’s account is more than -£3.00, a catering member of staff will ask the student to obtain a lunch slip from a member of the Student Support team to authorise the increase in debt. The student will be informed by the kitchen that the food will be kept until they return, and they are to come to the front of the queue so as not to lose any further time. Please be reassured that a student is never refused lunch.

Crediting an account and account balance

We kindly ask that you keep your child’s account in credit. The balance can be accessed through the My Child at School app. You will be able to check the balance, top up the account and see that any payments made have been credited to your child’s school meals account by selecting the Dinner icon/panel.

Daily spend limit 

If you wish to have a daily spend limit applied or change a daily spend limit on your child’s account, please contact our Catering Manager jsatow@qehs.net. Unfortunately, the My Child at School app does not allow you to change the daily spend limit. This facility is accessed through the school cashless system by the Catering Manager.

Refunds and transferring balance

Where possible, parents/carers are expected to wind down meals account balances where their child is leaving school.  Account balances can be viewed at any time on the My Child at School app or website.

Balances can either be transferred to another child’s account or refunded.  Where the school meals account has been credited in the last four months, refunds will be made through My Child at School using the payment method originally used.  If there have been no such credits, refunds will be processed via BACS payment to a nominated bank account.

If you require a refund, please fill in the form in the link below:

The refund process usually takes between 10-14 days (term time).  Please note, if you require refunds for more than one child, you will need to fill in a form for each individual.

If you have any queries, please email jsatow@qehs.net or telephone 01434 610330.

If your child receives free school meals, they will have total anonymity within the system. The monetary value of £3.20 is added to the student’s meal account daily which enables them to buy food during morning break or lunchtime. £2.65 enables them to buy a Meal Deal at lunchtime which consists of either a daily main course special, vegetarian special, Jacket potato with filling or a selected sandwich, plus a home bake or piece of fruit or yoghurt. Alternatively, they can buy individually priced items up to the value. Anything above the £3.20 can only be purchased if they have money on their account.

Please be aware the £3.20 allowance is applied across the day, so students may instead choose to use it to buy food during morning break.  However, please note that if students buy a snack at breaktime, this can leave them with very little to spend at lunchtime and therefore a very limited choice. Our recommendation would be to either:

  • limit the allowance so that it can only be used at lunchtime to ensure your child gets a meal every day – you may wish to send your child into school with a snack for morning break to keep them going until lunchtime, or
  • add additional money to their account using the School Gateway app/website to enable them to purchase additional items above the free school meal allowance.

If you wish your child to purchase additional items above the free school meal allowance please credit their account by the School Gateway app.

Please be assured that any items purchased on the account are taken initially from the FSM allowance up to the value of £3.20 per day. Anything above the £3.20 is then charged to the account. 

For example, if your child only purchases an item during morning break costing £1 then the £1 would be deducted from the £3.20 free school meal allowance, this would leave £2.20 of the free school meal allowance to buy something at lunchtime.

Please note that additional items above the £3.20 can only be purchased if students have additional money on their account.

Spend limits can be applied to your child’s account

If you wish to have a Spend limit applied to your child’ s account please contact the Catering Manager   Email jsatow@qehs.net or telephone 01434 610330.

 

For example

  1. If you do not want your child to spend above the free school meal allowance
  2. If you would like to limit the allowance so that it can only be used at lunchtime to ensure your child gets a meal every day.
  3. If you wish to credited your child’s account to allow them to spend above the FSM allowance you may also wish to set a daily limit e.g. £4.20 this would be £3.20 FSM allowance and £1.00 cash to spend each day

If you apply a daily spend limit it would be advisable for you to let your child know that they have a daily spend limit to avoid confusion at the till. 

Unspent free school meal money cannot be carried forward to the next day,

Certain data will be held on the system to enable accurate operation. This will include the student’s name, registration group, photo, account balance and meal entitlement. This data is handled under the guidelines of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and only used by parties directly involved with the implementation of the system.