The school’s catering service is provided by Taylor Shaw, caterer of choice for thousands of primary pupils across the UK.

Our menu is appetising, nutritious, balanced, and designed to encourage children to enjoy food, learn, play, and grow. Lunch is an integral part of the school day and something all children should look forward to. Taylor Shaw’s dedicated catering team ensures the dining hall is a welcoming and happy place for your child.

Our menus meet the Government’s School Food Standards and the bronze Food for Life standards.

• All items on our menu are freshly cooked by our catering team in your school kitchens to ensure we’re always offering fresh and nutritious food whilst minimising salt and sugar in recipes.
• No undesirable additives or artificial trans fats are used
• Our menus provide for all dietary and cultural requirements
• Our suppliers adhere to all appropriate food safety standards
• Our catering team is supported with skills training in fresh produce

Taylor Shaw’s dedicated dietitians work with our Chef teams to ensure our menus are nutritionally sound, shaping recipes to ensure they meet the School Food Standards and standards set by Public Health England.

Our Menus

Our diverse menus include a wide variety of options to suit all tastes and are based on feedback from pupils, staff, the catering team, parents and guardians. We run a three-week menu cycle that changes twice a year.

Your child's health and safety will always be of the utmost importance to us, and having accurate information about dietary needs and allergies is crucial for us to prepare and serve meals that meet their requirements

Taylor Shaw’s dietitians and catering team work together and follow a robust process, so you can feel reassured that whenever safely possible, an alternative menu will be provided. All the teams receive allergy training annually, and whenever there’s an update to allergen laws.

Our guide ‘Medical Diet Menus - A Guide for Parents, Guardians & Carers’ contains further information about the medical diet process and includes step by step instructions for you to record this information to ensure we are fully aware of any medical diet requirements.

Click here for the Medical Dietary Form.

Taylor Shaw’s Website Address:

https://taylorshaw.com/

Our menu is sourced responsibly and uses:

• Red Tractor-certified meat
• Marine Stewardship Council fish (MSC)
• Free-range eggs
• Local suppliers for bread, fruit & vegetables, and dairy products to reduce food miles
• Seasonal produce

We encourage pupils to learn about food through our food education program which includes fun-themed events, assemblies, and displays with messaging around health and wellbeing.

Did you know only 1% of packed lunches meet the nutritional standards that currently apply to school food? Here are five reasons school lunches are better:

• They can save time & money
• They’re nutritionally better than a packed lunch
• They promote a varied diet & encourage new tastes
• They support inclusivity, dining with friends
• They help academic attainment by being linked to improved concentration

Click here for the Information Leaflet for Parents and Guardians.

Free School Meals - Benefit related:

Your child may be able to get additional benefits for free school meals if you receive any of the following: Click here to apply.

• 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 guaranteed 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 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
• Universal Credit - if you apply on or after 1 April 2018 your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)

Children who get paid these benefits directly, instead of through a parent or guardian, can also get free school meals.

Free School Meals Vouchers During the Holiday Period

You must be entitiled to Free School Meals to receive supermarket vouchers during the half term. 

To redeem your free food voucher use the following Edenred website link. Click on the link below and enter your unique code which has been emailed to you:

https://ecode.selectyourcompliment.co.uk/grocery

If you need further help, please contact the Edenred helpline on 0333 444 5932

If your child is eligible for free school meals and/or you are worried about having enough food during any holiday periods, please contact the main school office, so that we can support you.  The school will work with you to ensure that all support is discretely provided.  Our normal support for families in this situation includes food vouchers, weekly food parcels and referrals to the local foodbank.  

We know that sometimes families are faced with unexpected difficulties during the school holiday, or when the school is closed.  During these times, families can contact the school via email on office@whittinghamprimaryacademy.org.uk or telephone on 0208 523 3228 and we will get back to you within 48 hours.  Alternatively, you can find information on getting support with food and financial problems on the Waltham Forest Council website