Primary school meals

Costs

Primary paid school meals cost £2.40 in September 2022 or £12.00 a week.

If you have any payment queries please contact 0161 253 5595.

Ordering

Traditionally in school meals, catering management would recommend the number of dishes each kitchen would prepare. This wasn't fool-proof and it meant children did not always get their preferred choice. Today, we have different ordering systems across the borough to make sure each child gets their first choice. Some schools have an electronic system called School Grid where you can choose your child's meals together from home and some schools have a manual system where your child orders in class and gets a coloured wrist band. The schools using School Grid will provide you with a letter to get you set up. You will be able to place orders from your phone, a tablet or computer.

Value for Money

With Bury Catering children get two courses, a main course with appropriate accompaniments and a dessert, and two sides i.e. a trip to a salad bar and bread, with a drink of chilled water for the price of a school meal. Where else can you get that value for a guaranteed healthy meal?

Our main courses each day include 3-4 choices, unless it's a small school or the school has asked for less
We always provide vegetarian, jacket potato and sandwich options
We have a vegan, gluten free and dairy free choice too and provide other Special Diets when requested in advance. All Special Diets are provided in line with Allergen legislation.
We have a formal allergen process which is available on request
Our desserts each day include 3 choices (main dessert, fruit, organic yoghurt). All our desserts on the core menu are vegetarian.

Ingredient quality, animal welfare and sustainable supply

Our purpose is to provide students with high quality, healthy and affordable food choices, helping them to perform well in school.

Over 75% of our dishes are freshly prepared from unprocessed ingredients
We comply with the purchasing principles of the DEFRA Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services
Our vegetables and potatoes are fresh and whole except for peas, sweetcorn and chips which are frozen
All our chicken, pork and beef is UK Farm Assured Red Tractor
Our meat is of a high standard, even our beef mince is steak mince (5% fat only. Many caterers use 12%)
Our eggs are from Free Range hens
Our yoghurts are organic
Our fish fingers are fortified with Omega 3 and our tuna is dolphin friendly. No fish from the Marine Stewardship Council 'fish to avoid' list is served
Our suppliers are vetted, fully traceable and many are local in order to minimise food miles including fruit, vegetables and salads from Liveseys, bread from Morris Bakers, cheese from Dewlays, fish from Youngs in Grimsby, YPO and Brakes
Our food does not contain nuts or processed in a factory that has handled nuts
Our ingredients are free of artificial additives, colourings and mechanically recovered meat

Healthy and balanced

We comply with the mandatory School Food Standards from the Department for Education regarding nutrition in children's diets.

All our Primary schools have achieved 'Excellent' in the 'Greater Manchester Healthier Catering Award'
Children can choose up to 5 portions of fruit and vegetables per day. The salad bar helps with this but one dessert is always fruit and another dessert has fruit in it most of the week, plus there is always one hot vegetable choice each day
We work closely with NHS nutritionists

Catering for special diets and allergies

Please let your child's school know if they have any special dietary requirements. Pupils with specific food-related conditions such as coeliac, milk/egg/dairy free and lactose intolerance can be catered for if we are provided with a diet sheet from the pupil's dietitian, hospital or GP. If we can, we will accommodate specific dietary needs from our standard menu and ingredient range. We do not serve foods containing peanuts or tree nuts. All Special Diets are provided in line with Allergen legislation. We have a formal allergen process which is available on request.

Certificated Halal meat is available in most schools where there is a requirement. Copies of certificates are available on request.

Staff

All our Kitchen Supervisors are craft trained chefs and have the opportunity to conduct further development through Apprenticeships.

We steam, bake, roast using Combination ovens in the main. We do not fry except on Fridays and many of our kitchens have had the fryers removed
We do not add salt or saturated fat when cooking
Our staff are friendly, focused on giving your child their first choice and an enjoyable meal experience
Our staff are paid a Real Living Wage and have a quality range of benefits including a Greater Manchester Pension which reduces staff turnover and maximises the benefit of training

Cleanliness

Our kitchens achieve 5 stars from Environmental Health and they are monitored regularly by the Catering Management Team.

Special days

We carry out special days to add a bit of fun to the school dining experience and to encourage pupils to try school meals. We usually have a competition running on our Facebook page. Please visit Facebook - Schools Catering Service – Bury Council.

School food standards

Over 16,000 children in Bury eat a healthy and nutritious school lunch every school day.

We provide meals in accordance with government's School Food Standards. They are regularly checked to ensure they are of the correct quality standard and portion size.

School Food Standards are intended to help children develop healthy eating habits and ensure that that they get the energy and nutrition they need across the whole school day. They place an emphasis on providing a wide range of foods across the week.

School Foods standards [510kb] (this PDF is not fully accessible and may not be suitable for users of assistive technology. See: Accessible documents)