Our school meals are provided by Miquill Catering.

School meals are priced at £3.00 for the 2026-27 academic year and payments should be made through MyChildAtSchool (MCAS) where you can also see the menu.

Please note that school meals must be paid for in advance by topping up your child's MCAS account. Children will not be provided with a school meal unless it is paid for (except those entitled to free school meals – see below).

All children will go into the school hall together to eat, or in summer months packed lunches are eaten outside, weather permitting.

If your child is bringing a packed lunch, please do not give your child fizzy drinks or food that needs heating in their lunch boxes. Children are not allowed sweets or chocolate bars in school.

 

ALLERGIES

North Hinksey is an allergy aware school and follows a Safer Eating Policy to help protect children.  Our Allergy Lead is Amy Burson.  We ask all families to support us by avoiding sending nuts or nut-containing into school. ​It is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to identify allergies pertaining to their child. Miquill Catering will then endeavour to provide a suitable ‘Special Allergy Menu’.

As part of this process, we require all parents with children, who have an allergy or intolerance, to complete the Special Diet Referral form (found at the bottom of this page), backed up with medical evidence relating to the allergen/intolerance, and return to the school.

Miquill Catering will need the contact details of the parent /guardian to be supplied (please see special diet form). If a child is highly allergic or requires a menu that falls out of the 14 known allergens, then the parents will need to be contacted and the menu agreed before commencement.

To view the Miquill Catering Allergen Management Policy, click here.

The school will communicate that the evidence has been received by ticking the box on the special diet form which will then go to the Chef Manager in the kitchen.

Your assistance with the new measures is very much appreciated, it is of the utmost importance to ensure the well-being of the children whilst delivering a balanced nutritional meal.

FREE SCHOOL MEALS (FSM)

Your child might be able to get free school meals if you get any of the following:

• 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)

If your child is eligible for free school meals, they’ll remain eligible until they finish the phase of schooling (primary or secondary) they were in when your eligibility was confirmed.
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If you believe you are eligible for free school meals, please click here or contact the school office for an application form, complete it and return to the school together with proof of benefit so that we can assess eligibility. Proof of benefit cannot be demonstrated by a bank statement or photocopies, only by an original of the following:

• Income Support - letter from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)/Jobcentre Plus dated within one month of application showing breakdown of income support payment.
• Income Based Employment & Support Allowance - letter from DWP/Jobcentre Plus dated within one month of application.
• Child Tax Credit (without Working Tax Credit and 'annual income as assessed by the Inland Revenue' of below the threshold figure for the year) - All pages of the TC602 Inland Revenue tax credit award notice for the current tax year.
• State pension credit - Pension Credit M1000 Award Notice.

INFANT FREE SCHOOL MEALS

Your child will be able to get free school meals if they’re in:

• Reception class
• Year 1
• Year 2

Please let the school office know if you also get any of the qualifying benefits detailed above - the school can get extra funding if you do.