Our School Meals

We want lunchtime to be a happy and enjoyable part of every child's school day. Our school meals are provided by Aspens, who provide nutritious, balanced and child-friendly meals for our pupils.

All children at the Infant School are entitled to a free school meal under the Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) scheme. If you want your child to bring a packed lunch instead, please contact the School Office.

Aspens provides a range of delicious and nutritious meals for children to enjoy at lunchtime. Menus offer a variety of choices, including a vegetarian option, helping children to enjoy a balanced and varied diet.

You will find more information on Apens below.

Alternative Menus & Dietary Requirements

If your child has an allergy, specific lifestyle dietary requirement or requires a medically prescribed diet, Aspen will need to be notified.

Please complete their Alternative Menu Form (Allergy & Lifestyle Notification and Medical Diet Request) and return it to the School Office. Aspens will assess the request to establish if it is possible to cater for the pupils' needs within their Special Diet Menus.  You can a copy of the form below.

Please note that any medical dietary requirements may require supporting information from a medical professional.

Packed Lunches

If you prefer your child to have a packed lunch, please pack a healthy selection of foods to provide your child with nourishment and energy.  At Thames Ditton Infant School, we encourage children who opt for a packed lunch to eat a nutritious lunch in order to stay healthy. Packed lunches should be well-balanced, and we do not permit chocolate, sweets, nuts or fizzy drinks in packed lunches.

Children should also bring a named water bottle to school each day. Water is available throughout the school day to help children stay hydrated.

Changing Meal Arrangements

Children must have either a school meal or a packed lunch. It is not possible to mix and match between the two arrangements.

If you wish to change your child's meal arrangement from a school meal to a packed lunch, or from a packed lunch to a school meal, please give the school at least two weeks' notice. This allows us to update the necessary arrangements with our catering provider.

Once a change has been made, your child will remain on the chosen meal arrangement unless you request a further change with the required two weeks' notice.

For the safety of some of our children, our school is strictly a nut-free school.

Is your child eligible for free school meals in addition to the UFSM Programme?

In addition to the Universal Free School Meals programme, in England, pupils are eligible to receive free school meals (FSM) if their parents are in receipt of one or more of the following benefits:

• Universal Credit (provided you have an annual net earned income of no more than £7,400 as assessed by earnings from up to three of your most recent assessment periods)
• Income Support
• Income-based Job Seeker's Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• The guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit, provided they are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190, as assessed by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.
• Working Tax Credit run-on-paid for four weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit.

Pupils who are eligible to receive free school meals outside the Universal Free School Meals Programme receive additional funding to be spent in school. This may include :-

• Access to breakfast club
• Assistance with costs towards educational trips
• £15 Supermarket shopping voucher for each week during school holidays (£195 per child per year)
• Free milk from CoolMilk for each school day
• Club4 Voucher for free activities during the school holidays which include a school meal

If you think you are eligible to receive free school meals even though your child is receiving Universal Free School Meals, please click here to access our eligibility form. If eligible, a claim can be made for additional funding to support your child.