Healthy Eating at The Brent

We know that diet plays a crucial role in a child’s development and at The Brent we encourage healthy eating. To help reach their potential children need a good balance of nutrients to grow healthy minds and bodies and a steady supply of energy to maintain concentration throughout the school day.

We support the School Fruit and Vegetable scheme that entitles a free piece of fruit or vegetable to all children in KS1.  Children in KS2 have the opportunity to purchase and eat a snack at morning break time and benefit from the healthy option of fruit or vegetables. 

Allergies

When your child starts at The Brent, as part of our Admission Forms, we ask you to identify any medical needs, allergies, intolerances or dietary requirements your child may have to ensure we provide the best care to all of our children. 

If your child is going to have school dinners provided by TCS:
 

• We suggest that you remain aware of the daily menu, emailed to yourselves twice yearly and available on our school website, and take responsibility for school dinners taken, reminding your child of any specific food items to be avoided.

 

• For more serious allergies/intolerances, please contact Julie Biggs, Operations Manager for TCS Independent Ltd via email: julie@tcsinfo.co.uk or telephoning 07500 842582.  A meeting will then be arranged between yourself and a representative from TCS, so that a suitable menu may be arranged.  

In all classes teachers are aware and in the kitchen we have photos of any children with any allergies, intolerances or dietary requirements so all staff are aware.  We are a no nut school. Please ensure your child does not bring anything to school which contains nuts, this includes Nutella chocolate spread.

CoolMilk

Our school provides a milk scheme that is available to all of our pupils and we invite you to register your child at www.coolmilk.com.  School milk is free of charge for children under five, and for over fives it is available at a subsidised price.  Each child that registers with Cool Milk will receive a 189ml portion of semi-skinned milk each day.  Their school milk will not only provide them with essential nutrients, but as it is rehydrating and energy boosting, it also bridges the gap between breakfast and lunch to held children stay focused.  For more information on how milk can benefit children visit www.coolmilk.com/why-milk-is-great.

 Universal free school meals

Free school meals are available for all children in reception classes, Year 1 and Year 2, regardless of family income. They’re also available from Year 3 to Year 6, dependent on family income.

We strongly advise all parents to apply for Free School Meals, whichever year group your child is in as this will attract additional funding (pupil premium funding) for the school, which is used to provide additional curricular and extra curricular learning opportunities.
Each year the Government allocates additional fuinding to schools so that free school meals can be provided for children who have been registered. This additional funding is also available to be spent on resources, intervention and staff. With this in mind, we would ask you to read the following information regarding eligibility for free school meals. Even if you and your child prefer to have a packed lunch from home we would be grateful if you would complete the ‘Free School Meals‘ form available here. Or in paper form at the school office as it helps to school to receive additional funding.

 Am I Entitled?

Free meals are available to any full time pupil who attends a school and is eligible.

You can get free school meals for your child if you or your partner gets either:

• Universal Credit - if you apply on or after 1 April 2018 your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)
• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• the guaranteed element of Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
• Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit.

Remember
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Applying for your entitlement of a ‘free school meal’ could help us to secure maximum funding from the Government for the whole school. If you think your child may be eligible for Free School Meals, please go to www.kent.gov.uk

School Dinners

​TCS provide our school dinners and the menu is updated at the beginning of Terms 1 and 4. A copy of the school dinner menu is available in the School Office and on this page. All children in KS1 are eligible for universal infants free school meals. For KS2 children the cost of a school dinner is £2.20. If a child is entitled to free school meals then they will receive a free school dinner. Every day there are 3 options for the children to choose from, including a vegetarian option. The children can also visit the salad bar every lunch time where there is a wide range of salad and bread for them to have with their lunch. As well as this, the children can have a pudding every day – this sometimes include cookies or cakes but these are part of a balanced meal and are baked with a strict amount of sugar content according to regulations.
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A copy of the current menu and information about where TCS source their food from can be accessed below.

AUTUMN AND WINTER MENU

Our Provenance

Please note the following conditions given by Total Catering Solutions (TCS):

Payment of school dinner money is easy, simply -

TCS use +Pay on Parentmail – an online payment service which allows you to pay for school dinners quickly and easily on your smartphone, tablet or computer.  You will be able to top up your dinner money account electronically, using credit or debit cards as well as PayPal and Pay Point and will receive automatic reminders when your balance is running low.

If you have an Android or Apple smartphone, we would highly recommend you download the free Parentmail App so that you can make easy, online payments on the go.  To do this, simply search for “Parentmail” (or school branded app name) in your App store.

TCS are hoping to go completely cashless over the next few weeks so appreciate your support in making payments electronically. However, if you do not wish to make payments online, you can continue to make cash or cheque payments.  Cheques £10 and over only please and payable to Total Catering Solutions (SE) Limited with child's name and class written on the back.  Cash payments in an envelope marked with your child's name, class and the days the payment covers. 

Please note, your bank statement will display either the school name or Parentmail dependent on your payment method.
 
​If payment is not received in advance then unfortunately we are unable to provide lunches.

Packed Lunch

Lunch Box Ideas:

​https://www.nhs.uk/change4life/recipes/healthier-lunchboxes
https://recipes.sainsburys.co.uk/articles/cooking/8-lunchbox-ideas-for-kids-and-not-a-jam-sandwich-in-sight
https://realfood.tesco.com/recipes/collections/kids-lunchbox-recipes
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/the-eatwell-guide/

Packed lunches should be healthy and balanced, sweets and chocolate bars are not allowed but small chocolate coated biscuits are ok as part of a balanced meal. To drink, water is encouraged and fizzy or high sugar content drinks are not allowed. A number of children at our school are allergic to different forms of nuts so we ask all parents to be vigilant in not providing their packed lunch children with, for example, peanut butter sandwiches at lunchtime.