Academy Meals
If your child is attending school full-time they will be staying for lunch-time. Please ensure you make arrangements for their lunches.
At Lime Academy Hornbeam, we believe that lunch time in school is both a time to develop pupils’ social skills, whilst also providing pupils with nutritional, healthy meals in a caring environment.
Please find below some useful FAQs regarding lunchtime at Lime Academy Hornbeam.
Will my child be provided with a dinner at school?
At School, we are able to provide all pupils with healthy, nutritious meals prepared freshly each day on site, should they require one. Our school dinners provide pupils with a range of choices and options of what meals they would like to eat. A full menu is available by clicking on the link to the side of this information.
How does my child choose their meal option?
You will be aware that, from looking at the School menu, there are different hot and cold options each day for dinner and pupils will be able to choose their food from the menu.
Do I have to pay for my child's meal?
Free school meals are not an entitlement to all Parents/Carers. For the majority of Parents/Carers there will be a cost for school dinners. The cost of dinners is currently £2.50 for a pupil meal. The school only accepts online payments. Cash and cheques are not accepted for school meals.
Universal infant free school meals (UIFSM)
Universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) provides funding for all government funded schools to offer free school meals to pupils in reception, year 1, and year 2. If your child is in these year groups, you will not be required to pay for your child’s meals.
How do I apply for Free School Meals?
Your child may be eligible for Free School Meals (including those pupils in receipt of UIFSM). To check if you are eligible, please click here to be redirected to the London Borough of Waltham Forest’s website to check if you are eligible.
How do I pay for my child’s school lunch?
You will need an Arbor account to pay for your child’s lunch as we cannot accept cash. Please make sure you have an Arbor account and that there is sufficient money in it to pay for your child’s lunches. For more information visit their website by clicking here.
If you need any help with setting this up, please contact the School Office or Family Support Team.
Can my child bring a packed lunch?
Of course. We understand that for many different reasons, you may decide that your child requires a packed lunch instead of a cooked school meal. If a child is not having a cooked meal, your child is welcome to bring along a packed lunch. We do ask that packed lunches are healthy and nutritional, and that the amount and type of food that is included in your child's packed lunch is suitable for their age.
We would like to remind parents that packed lunches MUST not include:
• nuts – including peanut butter and chocolate nut spread – because of the life threatening risk to any other child who may have a severe allergy
• confectionery such as chocolate bars and sweets (fruit strings are considered to be sweets). Cakes and biscuits are allowed but encourage your child to eat these only as part of a balanced meal
• drinks other than water – fresh water is available at all times so you do not need to include this
• snacks such as crisps or cheddars. Instead, include seeds, vegetables and fruit (with no added salt, sugar or fat). Breadsticks served with fruit, vegetables or dairy food are also a good choice
Packed lunches should include:
• at least one portion of fruit and one portion of vegetables every day
• meat, fish or other source of non-dairy protein (e.g. lentils, kidney beans and chickpeas) every day
• oily fish, such as salmon, at least once every three weeks
• a starchy food such as any type of bread, pasta, rice, couscous, noodles, potatoes or other type of cereals every day
• dairy food such as milk, cheese, yoghurt or custard everyday