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The catering provision within our school is provided by the Romero Catholic Academy In-House Catering Team. Our aim is to provide nutritious, tasty, school compliant meals for all children.
Feedback is regularly and actively sought from children and parents via our School Council and Parent Feedback Forms.
Every school within the Romero Academy has a five-star hygiene rating from Coventry City Council. If you have any questions or queries regarding the catering within our school, please contact the Catering Team directly at catering@romeromac.com.
Mrs Sarah Burton – Catering Manager
Sarah has worked in school catering for over 25 years and she has been at St John Fisher for over 18 years! Sarah has 4 children, all of whom attended St John Fisher. When she first started at St John Fisher, only 80 pupils out of the whole school had hot dinners, now it is in excess of 200!
There are many cooks and chefs who inspire Sarah, including Heston Blumenthal (trying different flavour combinations – have you ever tried kiwi and cheese?!)
Mrs Stephanie Watts – Catering Assistant
Stephanie has worked in school meals for the last 3 years. She is married with 3 children and a grandson. Stephanie likes to go out for meals and knows the importance of giving children a well-presented and healthy meal. She enjoys talking to the children and supporting them during lunch time.
A hot cooked meal, including a vegetarian option, with dessert, is cooked daily from fresh in our kitchen. Children also have the daily option of a jacket potato or sandwiches (also with dessert). Salad and fruit are always available. All children eat together in the dining hall. School meals are prepared in line with recommendations from the School Food Trust so you can be confident your child is receiving a healthy meal.
A daily school meal costs £2.45 and is paid for via Arbor (unless your child is in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2, in which case it will be FREE – see UIFSM below. Or if they are entitled to a Free School Meal & have registered accordingly – also see below).
The following guide explains how to top-up your child’s school meal account on Arbor.
At the beginning of each school year, you are asked to update us with any changes to your child’s dietary requirements – you can do this directly on Arbor.
We can cater for children with allergies as long as we are aware of them (this does not include food preferences, but we can cater for preferences on religious grounds). Please note some children in our school have airborne nut allergies, therefore our school is a ‘Nut Free School’. This means all children, staff and visitors must not consume nut products or products containing nuts, e.g. chocolate spread whilst on the premises.
The catering team within the Romero Catholic Academy ensures that all catering team members have a recognised qualification in Allergen Awareness.
If children do not wish to have a school meal, they can bring a packed lunch to school in a secure named container or lunch box. Packed lunches are also eaten in the Dining Hall, so all children eat together. No sweets, chocolates or fizzy drinks are allowed. Instead, we encourage fruit, vegetables and water to drink. For more information on Healthy Packed Lunches please visit The Children’s Food Trust for information.
Free school meals are means-tested and are available to children of families in receipt of certain benefits.
These benefits are
• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Support under Part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• The guarantee element of Pension Credit
• Working Tax Credit run-on (paid for the four weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)
• Child Tax Credit (with no Working Tax Credit) with an annual income of no more than £16,190
• Universal Credit – if you apply on or after 1 April 2019 your household income must be less than £7,400 per year (after tax and not including any benefits you get).
To check if your child is eligible, please apply as early as possible, online at Coventry Council/ Free School Meal Benefits and let the school office know if you are successful. You will only require your Date of Birth and NI number (proof of benefits will not be required).
Also by claiming or registering your entitlement it also raises an additional £1320 per annum per pupil for our school in the form of Pupil Premium. Which we use to provide added interventions for these children. Please see our Pupil Premium link. In return, we can offer Pupil Premium children financial assistance by providing support for school trips including residentials and a weekly place in our Breakfast or After School Club. Please contact the office if you require additional information. Please note your child does not have to take the school meal – you can still register your entitlement.
UIFSM is funding provided by the government to enable all children in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2 to have a free school meal on a daily basis. This is a saving to parents of £421.80 per annum. Even if your child prefers sandwich options – please note these are available under our school menu at no cost to you.
If you are eligible for Free School Meals under the means tested basis described above, we urge you to still register your child as eligible even if they are in Year Rec, Year 1 or Year 2. This provides benefits for your child in the form of financial assistance with trips, uniform (year reception) and provides essential funding for your child’s school which enables us to put additional interventions in place to assist your child’s learning. If you require any clarification on this please do not hesitate to contact the school office.
The catering team within the Romero Catholic Academy can provide catering for a variety of events from BBQs to pig roasts. For further details, please contact the catering team at catering@romeromac.com. Please note all catering surpluses generated by such events are re-invested in your school.
