School Meals

Ordering Process

All children in Reception, Year One and Year Two are entitled to universal infant free school meals. However, children in Key Stage Two (Year Three upwards) can still benefit from school lunches, although these will be paid for by parents/carers at a cost of £3.30 per meal, unless their child is in receipt of Free School Meals.

HCL Menu -Autumn 2024 and Spring 2025 (4MB)

Parents/carers are required to order meals for their child via SchoolGrid. A link to sign up to SchoolGrid will have been sent to parents/carers when their child initially enrolled here at Green Ridge. Parents/carers can order meals weeks in advance (which we strongly encourage) or by 8.55am each day. This enables the kitchen staff to produce sufficient numbers of meals and reduces wastage. We do also suggest that you spend adequate time going through the menu with your child to help familiarise them with the options on offer.

Parents/carers will need to add sufficient funds to their child’s account to cover the cost of any lunches ordered (you can even set up a direct debit!) and meals will be deducted from this balance. It is important to keep a credit balance on your child’s account to ensure that funds are available. If your account falls into arrears, reminder emails will be sent to prompt you to top up your account. After a series of reminders, non-payment will result in your child potentially being withdrawn from the school meal option. Children who are absent from school do not pay for any meals ordered on the days in which they miss as we ensure that orders are cancelled each morning if they are not in school. If you fail to order your child a meal and do not send them in with a packed lunch, they will be provided with a jacket potato by default and you will be charged accordingly.

When your child queues for their lunch, they will simply select their name on the touchscreen (assisted by staff as age requires) and their order will be displayed for the kitchen staff to process.

Herts Catering Limited (HCL)

Hertfordshire Catering Ltd make all our school meals using fresh ingredients and are cooked on site daily. They provide the children with healthy, nutritious meals designed for children by a nutritionist. The menu is published to parents/carers on a regular basis so you can see what will be available on any given day. The menu can also be found on our school website. The menu consists of a meat option, vegetarian option, jacket potato option with various fillings (for our creatures of habit!) and a cold option (such as a sandwich/roll/baguette/wrap).

As well as informing the school, it is vital that you also inform HCL directly should your child have any allergies or dietary requirements as they may require a special menu. You are required to complete an application form which can be accessed by following this link. The application form usually takes about ten minutes to complete and once submitted, you will then receive confirmation that it has been received and you will know if a suitable menu can be provided within a maximum of four term time weeks, but usually much sooner. You are required to do this to ensure that all parties are aware and have the relevant information regarding any allergies/intolerances. Due to the growing number of children with allergies and intolerances, HCL are only able to provide special diet menus where evidence can be provided from a medical professional, such as a GP, hospital consultant or registered dietitian. Their nutritionist will then be able to review the information and, where appropriate, create a suitable menu.

Packed Lunches

For those children bringing in packed lunches, please ensure that they are provided in an appropriate sealed container that is clearly named. These will be stored on our lunchbox trolleys. We encourage you to provide a healthy, balanced lunch in support of our healthy eating policy and no fizzy drinks, glass bottles, confectionery or sweets are to be provided. We are a nut-free school therefore children must not bring in any food containing nuts, regardless of their nutritional value. Please check cereal bars and other similar products as they often have traces of nuts, which are also not permitted.