Menus Introduction

The school is very aware of its responsibilities to provide nourishing, appetising food that is appropriate for growing pupils. We try to ensure that our boarding pupils achieve at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day and that our day pupils are some way towards that target from taking lunch.

This includes a responsibility to understand that there are a range of preferences and needs for each individual child. The aim of our eight chefs is to ensure that every individual pupil can enjoy a meal freshly prepared in our kitchen.

The planning of the menus begins with an awareness of the season. This impacts on the choice of foods used in preparation and also on the pupils’ requirements, for example nothing too heavy is offered in summer and nothing too light is offered in autumn.

A good example of using the seasonality of food begins with the soups as these are all freshly prepared. We do not use packet soups.

The main course is planned with both the midday meal and evening meal in mind. So if beef is offered at lunch time it will not be on the menu in the evening. We always offer a vegetarian option which will usually have some resemblance to the meat option in terms of style.

We also offer choice through our ‘’Bar Options’’ if pupils want an alternative to the main menu. This can include noodles, rice, wraps or baguettes with freshly made fillings. Whilst we rarely serve pies or chips we recognise that sometimes these options should also be available – although we often offer jacket wedges instead of chips.

We offer 18 items for salads at lunchtime and 10 items for salads in the evening. Fresh fruit and yoghurts are available at every meal.

Normally we will have fish on the menu twice a week.

We recognise the challenge of meeting the needs of our boarding pupils. Whilst they may sometimes be offered steak we also provide pizzas and jacket potatoes.

We are aware that some pupils may suffer from allergies and offer gluten free options. We avoid serving nuts and when traces may be found in prepared foods we indicate that possibility with a notice. The menus are shown here {link} so if you see a meal that will be a problem in terms of an allergy please let us know well in advance so that an option can be prepared.

Boarding pupils have various options for breakfast. There is always croissant, cereals, toast, fresh fruit and yoghurt available. We also provide a fried breakfast three times a week and a ‘continental’ breakfast four times a week.

We are constantly searching for new menus with a view to offering a wider choice of healthier options within the parameters of providing good, nutritional, appealing meals.

Click here for menu details