Here at The Holgate Academy, we pride ourselves on providing a great quality and value for money service in the school canteen. We use a range of locally sourced suppliers from in and around the county to supply the school dinners, including: meat from a local butcher, free range eggs, fresh local milk and locally sourced freedom food accredited chicken and turkey.

All recipes are run through a nutritional programme to make sure they meet the standards required by the government’s nutritional guidelines. We are always in contact with the school council who provide us with feedback from the pupils in the various age groups regarding items they would like to see on the menu and ideas they may have to improve the service.

We use the sQuid cashless payment system. This system is a finger recognition system for the payment of dinners. It provides parents with an online website to access their child’s account to put money on and also to be able to see what their child is eating.

Once a year we are inspected by the local authority food standards agency which give a rating between 0 (urgent improvement) and 5 (very good), both kitchens here at Holgate gained a 5 rating once again this year.

Lunch Menu, autumn-winter term 2023 – Week 1

Lunch menu, autumn-winter term 2023 – Week 2

Free school meals

We know that having a nutritious meal during the school day is important for children’s health, wellbeing and learning – and we want to ensure that all children who are eligible for free school meals benefit from this scheme.

Your child may be able to receive free school meals if you get any of the following:

  • 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
  • Universal Credit – your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)

If you think that your child(ren) may be entitled to free school meals then you can either apply online or download a form via the Nottinghamshire County Council website here, or phone them on 0300 500 80 80.

Once your application has been approved, the council will inform the academy and we can then start providing free school meals for your child(ren). We treat all recipients with complete discretion.

We are here to help, so contact us if you have any queries or concerns you would like to discuss directly with the academy.

If you are experiencing financial difficulties, your local food bank can help. To arrange a food voucher for your family, visit Bestwood and Bulwell Foodbank or for further support contact the academy(opens in new tab) to talk to someone in confidence.