Wallands Community Primary School: Information for Parents
LUNCHTIMES
All children may sit with their friends at
lunchtime.
Times:
Infants (Reception, year 1 and year 2) – lunchtime
is between 11:50 and 13:00.
Juniors (years 3, 4, 5, and 6) – lunchtime is
between 12:15 and 13:10.
INFANTS
How lunch is booked
As children arrive in Reception and Year 1 in the
morning they put their name in one of 3 boxes –
whether they are going home for lunch, having a
packed lunch or having a school meal. During
registration, the teacher will ask the children
having a school meal whether they want a
vegetarian meal. So it’s completely flexible each
day about what kind of lunch your child has. In
year 2 the children put their hand up at register
time to indicate what lunch they are having.
Lunchtime organisation
Reception children are taken straight into lunch
by their teacher or teaching assistant at 11:50.
Year 1 and year 2 go out to play first, then year
1 start to line up and are sent into the dining hall
in groups of about 10, and then year 2 line up and
go in. All children are usually eating by 12:10.
Packed lunches
Each class teacher has a named shelf outside the
dining hall where you put your child’s pack lunch in
the morning. At lunchtime, the children find their
lunches and then line up and are helped by the
dining staff to find space at the tables.
School dinners
Money should be kept in named purses / wallets
and put in the basket in the classroom. The class
then has the basket with their wallets taken to
the till in the dining room. Children having school
dinners line up outside the dining hall first and
then get a tray, collect their food, the money is
taken from the purse / wallet and their tray is
carried for them to a table.
Vegetarians
Children having a vegetarian meal are given a
sticker as they go into the hall and then the staff
serving give them a vegetarian meal. (Any child
may choose the vegetarian option each day).
JUNIORS
How lunch is booked for juniors
After register each morning the children are
asked what lunch they are having and if they are
having vegetarian.
Lunchtime organisation
Children go out to play first, the whistle is blown
and a card displayed for each class to indicate
that the class can now go in to lunch. This is done
on a rota so that one class is not always last to go
in. If a child misses the card they can go in later.
Packed lunches
In the morning the Y3&4 children put their lunch
boxes on the shelves inside the dining hall. At
lunchtime they get their lunch box and find a
place to sit. Y5&6 lunchboxes are kept in the
cloakroom ready to take outside for eating if the
weather is fine. If it is not they eat in the main
hall.
School dinners
Children line up outside the dining hall and are
sent in to get their meal in groups. They carry
their trays themselves and find a place to sit.
What to include in lunch boxes
Children are not allowed to bring sweets or
chocolate but can bring a sweet biscuit such as
Kitkats or Penguins. Drinks should be in a resealable container. Fizzy drinks are not allowed.
Any cutlery they need should be included, e.g. a
spoon to eat a yoghurt, but this can be borrowed
if forgotten.
School meals
The catering is done by Scolarest Catering
Services. There is a 3 weekly menu of hot meals,
the office can tell you which week (e.g. 1, 2, or 3)
we are on. Menus change 2 termly and are sent
home with the children in their book bags. Jacket
potatoes are also available each day.
The menu and price list is displayed in the
corridor nearest to the office.
Water is available in the dining hall, or drinks
(fruit juice or milkshake) can be purchased.
Children can have a piece of fruit instead of the
pudding at no extra cost, or they can buy a piece
of fruit as well as pudding.
Water is available at no cost for all children at
lunchtimes.
What help is given to the children
If a child needs help, e.g. to open a packet, cut up
some food or to deal with a spillage, they put up
their hand and one of the lunchtime staff will
come and help them. They are friendly and
approachable.
When lunch is over
Packed lunches
Children are told to put any uneaten food back in
their lunch boxes so parents can see how much
they have eaten. Infants return their lunch boxes
to the shelves and go out to play. Juniors take
their lunch boxes to the cloakroom before going
out to play.
School dinners
Children scrape any uneaten food into containers
on the side of the dining hall and stack up their
cutlery and crockery. They can then go out to
play.
Sometimes children are so keen to go and play
with their friends that they rush through their
lunch, so they are encouraged to sit a bit longer at
the table if they have not eaten much.