Our school kitchen has consistently achieved the top rating of 5 from the Food Standards Agency. This means the hygiene standards are very good and that they comply fully with the law.

Ordering school dinners

Please have a look at  the current Saltford School menu here with your child when making your choices for the week ahead. Those choices should be ordered using the MCAS (My Child at School) system where you will see the options for each day. By pre-ordering, we aim to reduce waste and ensure that specific dietary needs are met.

School dinners can be booked ahead for the full term or at any time up until 12 noon the day before the dinner is due. If you change your mind after ordering and decide to send your child with a packed lunch instead, please change your order on the system before 12 noon the day before the dinner is due. After this point you will still be charged for that day’s dinner.

If your child is absent, the meal order will automatically be cancelled for that day.

Zest Catering

Our school meals are provided by Zest Catering, Futura’s in-house catering service. The management team at Zest prides itself on a “fresh, healthy and tasty” ethos. The Zest staff are happy to support children with food allergies or intolerancies. Please call in to the school office to discuss this and read the Food allergies section below. We sometimes have special themed meals on celebration days such as Pancake Day. Please keep an eye on school newsletters for more details nearer the time.

Food allergies

Zest is happy to support children with food allergies or intolerances who wish to take a school dinner. The allergen checker matrix clearly shows allergen information for every school dinner recipe. You can use this alongside the current menu by following the link below. Please call in to the school office if you need to discuss your child’s particular food allergies or intolerances. When working with our staff to provide a menu that caters for your child’s allergies, you will be asked to complete this online form to provide information to Zest. More information and a hard copy of the form are also available in the Zest Catering allergy, intolerance and special diet document here.

Please also see the Futura Food Allergies Policy here.

Dinner money payment

Dinner money is £2.80 per dinner. It is Zest Catering policy for dinners to be paid in advance.

Dinner money payments should be made via our communications platform MCAS (My Child at School), through the website or the app. This allows full management of your child’s dinner money account.

When children move into Year 3 they are no longer entitled to Universal Free School Meals unless the family is in receipt of certain benefits (see links below). We contact parents at this time to make sure they have all the information they need.

Free school meals

School meals are free for all pupils in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 in state schools in England. These are known as ‘universal free school meals’. Some children in older year groups may also be able to get a free lunch if their families are living on a low income and qualify for certain benefits. These meals are known as ‘benefit-related free school meals’.

If your child qualifies for benefit-related free school meals, please don’t wait until after Year 2 but apply for this when they start school, as doing so will attract significant additional funding for our school in the form of ‘pupil premium‘.

If you think you might be entitled to Free School Meals you can check the full information on the B&NES website: www.bathnes.gov.uk/apply-free-school-meals. This includes details of how to apply. You can also read the B&NES information leaflet here.

Applying for free school meals: You can apply online here via the B&NES website. If you prefer to apply by post you can download the Free School Meals registration form from the B&NES website here or from the links below, or you can ask for a form from the school office. You can also apply by phone on 01225 394317. See extra guidance on the B&NES website here in the ‘How to apply’ section.

Free school meals registration form 2025-26 (MS Word.