Catering

Primary  School Meals

April 2021

View primary school menus (pdf 315KB) for the period 19th April to 15th October, 2021.

Schools should be advised of any food allergies or medically prescribed dietary support during the school induction process or when a condition is identified. Find out more about special diets including information on how to check allergen and nutritional information.

Our menus have been translated into 5 different languages for families who have English as a second language:

• Arabic – primary school menu (pdf 360KB)

• Latvian – primary school menu (will be available soon)

• Lithuanian – primary school menu (pdf 224KB)

• Polish – primary school menu (pdf 223KB)

• Russian – primary school menu (will be available soon)

Our school meals service aspires and works to achieve the Soil Association Food for Life goals. We are proud holders of the Food for Life Bronze award and continually strive to provide a service of excellent quality in line with national standards and guidelines such as the Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2020.

The benefits of having a school lunch:

• Food prepared daily by trained catering staff, many of whom are parents

• A delicious and varied menu offering great value

• Fresh soup is available daily

• Selection of main courses including a vegetarian option,
  all served with sides, bread and a dessert choice or fruit

We support a healthier diet with:

• A minimum of two portions of vegetable and one of fruit

• Reduced fat, saturated fat and salt content

• Limited sugar and sugar-based items on the menu

• Inclusion of oily fish

In addition to the main course we offer:

• At least one vegetarian option

• A selection of bread

• Salads, carbohydrates and vegetables

• A dessert choice or fresh fruit

• Freshly made soup three times a week

We use:

• Free range eggs

• Fresh meat that is Red Tractor or QMS (Quality Meat Scotland) assured

• Responsibly sourced fish landed at Peterhead

• Locally sourced ingredients wherever possible – see our video about sourcing local produce to find out more

Feedback

We are committed to providing the best service possible and invite comments and suggestions. You can email us at schoolmeals@aberdeenshire.gov.uk.

Online payment for school meals

The introduction of the online payment facility for school meals and other school payments has brought new benefits to pupils, parents and carers who will use the system.

A letter detailing the facility and how you register to make online payments is sent to you when your child starts at primary school. The online payment facility is accessed by way of the Pay tab on the Aberdeenshire Council website.

A straightforward one-time registration is required to create your own unique username and password.

The preferred option is to make payments online but cash or cheque payments will be accepted.

The current price of a school meal is £2.50.

Please ensure there are always sufficient funds on your child’s account prior to sending them for school meals.
Be aware that an account that falls into debt will initiate a process of formal debt recovery.

How pupils use this service to choose a school meal

Each morning in class all children choosing to have a school meal will select their main course for that day based on colour coded choices. This information is recorded and will help the kitchen ensure pupils receive their selected option.

Interactive menus – allergen and nutritional information

Changes to food law requires all food businesses to provide information about allergens contained in the foods served to customers. Our School Catering service is no exception and has taken steps to provide this information to pupils and parents.

Our interactive menu facility enables parents to view recipe pages that display important allergen and nutritional detail. For pupils with food allergies information provided on any recipe page indicates whether that choice is acceptable as an option for lunch. This includes carbohydrate values that are of particular interest to parents of children with Type 1 diabetes.

Hitting the mark

Our School Catering service currently holds the Soil Association Bronze Food for Life catering award marking fresh and healthy meals to our 156 primary and special schools. The Food for Life Catering mark brings together all of the issues people care about: health, climate change and animal welfare. It recognises caterers who serve fresh food which is free from controversial additives and offers a guarantee that fresh food you can trust is always on our menus. We can assure you that the food we serve meets high standards of traceability, freshness and provenance.

Our school menus are already devised to meet Scottish Government nutritional requirements and achieve lower fat, lower saturated fat, lower sugar and lower salt content.