At Highfields we run our own school catering service called “The Hive”. This means that we have total control over the design of the menus, the sourcing of the ingredients (we use local producers as much as possible so that we have full traceability of all meat etc., reduce the carbon footprint and support local business) and ensure that the children receive high quality home cooked food.
What we offer
Children have the choice of a main item plus a selection of vegetables, as much as they like from the salad cart and a choice of pudding. There is also always a selection of fruit available.
Sandwiches are available daily with a choice of fillings. The children are welcome to add to this anything from the salad cart and/or from the selection of vegetables on offer (e.g. on chip day they could even have a sandwich and chips!!)
Baked potatoes are also available daily, again with a choice of fillings. 
Drinks are provided on the tables for all the children.
How to order a school dinner
Dinners are ordered via our online payment system, ParentPay. Menus for the term can be found here. This gives the opportunity for you to sit with your child to select the food for the coming week. You then log onto ParentPay where you select and pay for your choice of dinners. On the day selected your child will be given a coloured band, linked to their choice which they swap for their dinner at the serving hatch.
Free School Meals
The government run a scheme called Universal Free School Meals. This provides all children from Reception class through to the end of Year 2 with a free meal at lunchtime. This means that you will not have to pay any money for the school dinners at Highfields during this period. This is a potential saving of around £400 plus per year!
Who is eligible for free school meals?
Free school meals are available to pupils in receipt of, or whose parents are in receipt of, one or more of the following benefits:
• Universal Credit (provided you have an annual net earned income of no more than £7,400, as assessed by earnings from up to three of your most recent assessment periods)
• 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 guarantee 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 four weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit.
Even if your child is in Reception class, Year 1 or Year 2, it is important that if you receive a qualifying benefit, you still register for free school meals under the eligibility scheme.
Even if you don’t want your child/ren to have the meals, claiming them helps our school. The more eligible parents who claim meals, the more funding our school receives.
Some of the ways in which Highfields spends the pupil premium fund include:
• Extra one-to-one or small-group support for students within the classroom.
•Employing extra teaching assistants to work with classes.
• Running catch-up sessions for children who need extra help with mathematics or English.
• Providing extra tuition for able students who receive the pupil premium, for example in preparation for examinations
• Providing music lessons for students whose families would be unable to pay for them.
• Investing in resources that boost student’s learning.
Often, all of the children in a class will reap some benefit from how the school spends its Pupil Premium Grant: for example, if the money is used to fund an additional Teaching Assistant who works across the whole class, rather than providing one-to-one support. But research shows that the fund does help to narrow gaps between disadvantaged children and their peers, particularly in English and mathematics
How to apply
Please head to the Staffordshire County Council website
Telephone: 0300 111 8007
Email: freeschoolmeals@Staffordshire.gov.uk
If you are entitled to free school meals we would urge you to make an application for this even though you will automatically be entitled to the free school meals above. By doing so, Highfields Primary can access additional funds to support your child in their learning. Each application gives us an additional £1300 per pupil. It makes a huge difference to us in the services we can offer.
If you require any help or are unsure if you can claim for free school meals – contact the school office, put ‘Free school meals’ in the title and Mrs Goodwin or Miss Mellor will contact you to discuss and help you.
