School meals offer a selection of freshly cooked main meals and desserts every day, often including pasta, salad, fresh fruit and yoghurt.

The children can choose what they would like to eat on a daily basis from our varied menus.

All meals are nutritionally balanced and are served by our friendly School Meals Supervisory Assistants and the catering staff.  Children can sit down together and enjoy their meal whilst at the same time developing social skills of eating together that are so important in later life.

A well fed and happy child is more likely to be receptive to participating in the afternoon's activities. 

All children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are entitled to a free school meal.  The Government introduced Infant Free School Meals following an independent review of school food which found that where all children had been given a free school meal they were months ahead of their peers in their school work.  

Children in Year 3 - Year 6 who have a school meal can pay via SchoolComms.  Instructions for parents on how to do this can be found here: School Comms

The weekly cost of a school meal, per child is £12.50 which is excellent value for money.  

Children are entitled to receive free school meals if they or their parents or guardians receive any of the benefits below.

• Universal Credit, provided they have an annual net earned income not exceeding £7,400 (£616.67 per month)
• 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
• Child Tax Credit, provided they are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190, as assessed by HMRC

How do I apply for free school meals?

If you already receive housing benefit or council tax support, or have recently applied for free school meals, you don't have to do anything.

If you don't receive housing benefit or council tax support, you need to apply for free school meals, via Bolton Council's website:  Free School Meals and School Clothing Allowance Application Form

People who suffer from nut allergies can develop a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction.

If someone has a nut allergy, it is not just eating the nuts that can cause a severe reaction. Just being touched on the skin or smelling the breath of someone who has had nuts, or a product containing nuts, can trigger anaphylactic shock (which can cause breathing and swallowing difficulties).

First Aid staff in the school are trained to use Epi-pens (an injection of adrenalin), which is required immediately if anaphylactic shock occurs.

We can no longer have nuts in school in any form.

Going forward, we kindly ask that no nut products are put into the children’s lunch boxes or brought into school as a treat. For example: 

• Peanut Butter Sandwiches
• Chocolate Spreads
• Granola Bars
• Cakes that contain nuts
• Biscuits/Cookies that contain nuts
• Peanut Butter Cakes
• Some Asian food, including satay
• Sauces that contain nuts

The above list is not exhaustive, so please check the packaging of products closely.

We appreciate that this is an additional thing to check and we know that you recognise the importance of it. We do have to insist that we are a nut free school. I know if this were your child, you would expect that we all help, especially as it is a life threatening condition.

If you have any questions or you need to inform school if your child has developed an allergy to something, please inform school immediately.

Lever Edge Primary Academy promote healthy eating in school and have the Healthy Schools award which recognises our efforts in this regard.

The following guidelines are set out by the NHS website Change4Life https://www.nhs.uk/change4life/recipes/healthier-lunchboxes and they recommend that a child’s lunch should include only the following:-

• A portion of starchy food, e.g. wholegrain balm, bread, sesame seed pitta bread, plain crackers, pasta or rice salad
• Fresh fruit and vegetables, e.g. apple/orange/banana, cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks, mini fruit chunks etc.
• A portion of dairy food, e.g. cheese, plain/fruit yoghurt etc.
• Small portion of lean meat, fish or alternative, e.g. two slices of chicken, beef, Quorn, cheese, tuna, egg or hummus, etc.

Lunchbox swaps

• Try bags of grapes, melon chunks, strawberries to provide the sweetness without the added sugar
• Choose fruit loaf, fruit teacakes or scones as an alternative to cakes and chocolate.
• Carrot and celery sticks with natural low fat yoghurt of hummus dip are tasty side dishes

Lunchbox tips

• Use a variety of breads to keep sandwiches fun and interesting
• Chop fruit and vegetables into sticks to make it fun to eat
• Have a change from sandwiches by using rice and/or pasta
• Don’t forget to wash fruit and vegetables

Lever Edge Primary employ the Halal Monitoring Committee (HMC) so that parents can feel confident and assured that the Halal meat and products their children are consuming are genuinely Halal.  A List of schools accredited by the Halal Monitoring Committee can be scrutinised on their website.  

Halal Monitoring Committee (HMC) Certification

• HMC certified products are accepted by all Muslim communities (our standards do not include stunning and mechanical slaughter)
• HMC certification gives Muslim customers the ‘peace of mind’ that they seek
• HMC outlet owners see increase footfall and sales as a result of certification (they seek the direct benefits of Trust that consumers seek)
• HMC provides access to the vast potential of Halal market on a global scale
• HMC’s unique inspection and monitoring process provides export opportunities to the global market, comprising of approximately 1.6 billion Muslim consumers
• HMC monitoring system complies with UK Law and all health, safety and hygiene practices.

• Halal Certification 2024/2025
• Halal Certification 2023/2024
• Halal Certification 2022/2023

The school has a very high standard of food hygiene and we have achieved a 5 Star rating from the Food Standards Agency.  The link to the  Food Standards Agency website shows the rating can help you to choose where to eat out or shop for food by giving you clear information about the businesses' hygiene standards. 

Children who attend Lever Edge Primary Academy are offered a piece of fruit every day, free of charge, thanks to the Government's Free Fruit Scheme

We are also pleased to be able to offer your child a toasted bagel every morning when they arrive in school.  

Breakfast kick-starts metabolism, helping you burn calories throughout the day.  Many studies have linked eating breakfast to good health, including better memory and concentration, lower levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol, and lower chances of getting diabetes, heart disease, and being overweight.