Since September 2014, all Infant pupils have been entitled to a free school meal under the government’s Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) initiative.
School meals are provided by Hertfordshire Catering Ltd (HCL) and are cooked on site daily. Alternatively, pupils may bring packed lunches from home – parents are requested to include healthy choices in the lunches and there should be no chocolate or fizzy drinks. The school has a no nuts policy, as there are children in school with life-threatening allergies.
The take-up of UIFSM at Merry Hill is over 90%.
Pupil Choice Menu
Children have a choice of meals from HCL’s Pupil Choice Menu. The menu is rotated on a three-weekly basis and comprises a hot meat or fish option, a hot vegetarian option and a sandwich option. Recently HCL have introduced a Halal meat option on a Wednesday. The menu changes each October half term and Easter. When a new menu is issued, parents are asked to advise the office of their child(ren)’s meal choices for each of the three weeks on the menu. If your child wants to switch to a different choice part-way through the term, please let Mrs Krangel in the office know.
If your child has an allergy or a special dietary requirement and you would like them to have a school meal you must first register this with our catering provider – Herts Catering. Please visit https://hcl.co.uk/allergy-overview before ordering school meals.
Schools’ Fruit and Veg Scheme (SFVS)
Under the SFVS, all children are given a piece of fruit at morning break – the type of fruit varies each day according to the season.
Milk
All children at Merry Hill can have milk at morning break. Nursery children and children in Reception who will be four throughout the school term do not pay for school milk; there is a charge for children who have had their fifth birthday or who are ‘rising 5’. Each term, a letter will be sent from the school office asking if your child would like milk. The cost of milk for the Summer Term 2024 is £24.32 and payment is made via Scopay.
Free School Meals (FSM) entitlement
All children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are now entitled to government funded Free School Meals. However, we still encourage all families to register online for Free School Meals to see if they are eligible for any additional Pupil Premium funding.
To find out if you qualify, call 0300 123 4048 or click on the link below. The registration process should take no more than 5 minutes, and you will need to have your National Insurance Number or Home Office Number to hand.