St. Joseph's R.C. (V.A.) Primary School

Newton Aycliffe

Guidelines for packed lunches
  • Please ensure that your child has a balanced meal at lunchtime – eg sandwiches, fruit and/or yoghurt. (Please remember to send in a small spoon for your child to eat their yoghurt with.) Yogurts and cheeses in squeezy tubes are not suitable for school.
  • Cakes and biscuits are allowed to be provided on a Friday as a treat. This is because the school is a Healthy school and we are looking to encourage healthy life styles. School dinner deserts are made using reduced fats and sugars and therefore present a healthier alternative when compared to supermarket products.
  • We do not allow children to bring sweets into school and therefore, these should not be included in their packed lunches.
  • All packed lunches must be in a packed lunch plastic carrying box or in a suitable free-standing bag so that they can be stored on a shelf during the day. ( plastic carriers are not suitable)
  • All containers must be clearly marked with your child’s name.
  • Children are allowed a drink of water from the kitchen. If you prefer to send a drink, this should be brought into school in a plastic bottle. Please do not send fizzy drinks as these tend to “explode” when being opened. The children should just bring a small bottle of juice as any remaining after their lunch must be thrown away to avoid spillages in the corridors.
  • No bottles, cans, tins of fruit with pull ring tops, thermos flasks or hot liquids may be brought into school for safety reasons. Please do not send fizzy drinks as these tend to “explode” when opened or if the box falls on its side.
  • No snacks of the “pot noodle” or “snack pot” may be sent into school.
  • All waste food from packed lunches must be taken home (paper, cellophane, foil etc cannot be mixed with waste from school meals, and likewise food scraps or paper which has contained food cannot be put into classroom waste paper baskets for health and hygiene reasons.
  • If you wish your child to change from school dinner to packed lunch or vice-versa, please give us two weeks’ notice as the cook orders food two weeks in advance of meals being prepared.
  • If your child forgets to bring their packed lunch s/he will be given a school meal and you will be charged accordingly.