How we are adapting our school meals this term in response to Covid-19

It's been a long six months, with many changes for our school-meal service. For some schools, we had to close our on-site kitchen, and work very differently during lockdown - serving an adjusted menu for some, and grocery boxes for others to use at home. 

With the new academic year now underway this month, all of our school-meal teams are now back, and looking forward to seeing familiar faces, and welcoming new ones in for lunch. The buzz in our kitchens is so wonderful, with everyone feeling like they have their routine back. 

So how have school meals changed during Covid-19? We take a look at how we've worked with schools to get back to cooking, safely. 

Working with schools, individually 

Each school has its own risk assessments, challenges, and considerations when it comes to returning to school meals, in a Covid-secure environment. We've worked with schools, one by one, to look at what the most suitable options are for them, while also continuing to serve Food for Life and School Food Plan compliant options for pupils. 

Serving meals while keeping pupils and staff Covid-secure is vital. 

For some, this means serving meals in the classroom; for others, pupils are still able to eat in the dining hall. Depending on where and how pupils are able to eat, we've had to review the style and type of menus we are serving. 

Most of our schools are opting for a dining-in-the-classroom approach, with a hot picnic-style menu. For some, where dining halls are large or leadership teams have been able to adjust their timetable, pupils will be served 'as normal', in multiple sittings. Often, this also means school staff collecting meals from the servery to limit movement near the kitchen. We will continue to work with schools to adapt and learn as we settle in to the new term - to ensure pupils and staff stay as safe as possible. 

The best way to keep up to to date on your school's individual menu as they change and adapt is to download our Lunchero or Luncerho+ apps, here. 

Continuing to cater for special diets 

It is incredibly important to us that all pupils are able to access school meals. We know just how important they are, for many reasons. Therefore, as we are adapting our menus for each school, our Menu Development team is also ensuring that those with special diets continue to be catered for, safely. If your child has a special diet, and you haven't yet registered, please do review our guidance or speak to your school admin team. School menus will also have a daily vegetarian option, as usual. 

Keeping our teams safe

Keeping our teams safe is paramount to us as an employer and charity. Since February 2020, we have been regularly reviewing the Government's changing Covid-secure guidance, to ensure that our risk assessments are reflective of current recommendations on social distancing, hand washing and PPE. We're also ensuring that anyone with symptoms is able to safely stay at home and away from the workplace. To learn more about our Covid-secure practices, visit here. 

A note on price 

As a charity advocating access to good food for all, we have always kept our pricing to parents and schools as low as possible - below that of our local competitors, in fact. This year, it's been hard to balance that with rising food and labour costs, and significantly reduced incomes. As we adapt to the changing impact of Covid-19, our Board of Trustees - which includes Headteacher Trustees - has had to make the difficult decision to moderately increase our meal price this term. We'd like to reassure parents that we are committed to reviewing this as the year rolls ahead - we're working hard with our teams to try and reverse the rise as soon as we can. 

It is important to us, as a Charity, to continue to meet the high standards that we set ourselves for food quality, safety, and customer service, despite the challenges of Covid-19. We do this by: 

• serving Food for Life and School Food Plan compliant meals

• using local suppliers

• producing as much food from scratch as possible

• adhering to our Hyperactive Children's Support Group Award guidelines

• working sustainably to reduce our impact on the environment

You can read more about our food standards here. 

We are so happy and excited to welcome pupils and teachers back to school, see our staff back in school kitchens, get the ovens back on and start cooking. It's been too long! 

Thank you,

Rachel Hall, CEO