Dinner money
Please send money in an envelope clearly marked with your child's name and class on a Monday morning. School meals currently cost £11. We also have a pre-payment system whereby you can pay in advance for a whole term/half term period. You may also pay online or by cheque made payable to Diamond Hall Junior Academy.
How to pay online
If you'd prefer to pay for your dinner money online, we use Scopay, a secure online payment system that parents can use to pay for school dinners, trips and more. Click here to login. If you haven't already got a Scopay account, please contact [email protected].
We do not allow arrears to build up in respect of lunch payments. If your child owes more than two weeks worth of dinner money, we will request a formal meeting. We therefore appreciate prompt payment on a Monday.
Free school meals
Your child might be able to get free school meals if you receive 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 - your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)
Children who get paid these benefits directly, instead of through a parent or guardian, can also get free school meals. Claims for children starting Reception class in September should be made from August onwards. Please only submit applications for children who do not currently have authorised claims.
If you aren't sure if you are eligible, please contact Together for Children on 0191 561 1417 or [email protected]
For more information see the Together for Children website
Change of meal preference
So that we can ensure the well-being of pupils over lunchtimes, when signing up your child for a particular type of meal (eg hot dinner, packed lunch, meal at home) please keep that arrangement for a full half term. This is to ensure that we are aware of the arrangements for pupils during lunchtimes. If your circumstances change or you would like to discuss changing the arrangement before the end of a half term please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Bennett or Mrs Oliver.
Hot dinners
All meals are cooked on the premises and are eaten in the school hall. The school meals service provide a wide range of healthy choices, and there is always fresh fruit available to supplement the daily meal.
From time to time, the school meals service like to encourage children to try new food from around the world, and there are sometimes ‘themed’ days where food from different cultures is available. Although the foods are varied, they all meet the nutritional standards set out by the Food In Schools authority, and on such themed days there will also be a non-themed popular choice and salad bar in order to meet the widest needs. This occurs only a few times across the school year, but it is always a good opportunity for children to try something new and encourage healthy choices.
You can download a copy of our lunch menu at the bottom of this page.
Packed lunches
If your child brings a packed lunch to school please ensure they bring it to school with them on a morning clearly labelled with your child’s name and class.
We promote healthy options as part of the wider school ethos, and therefore encourage fruit and other fresh ingredients as packed lunch content. Please do not send fizzy drinks, chocolate bars or sweets. Drinks should be either bottled water or fruit juice/cartons. We do not accept glass bottles or cans.
There may be children in school with food allergies, the most common of which is intolerance to nuts. We would appreciate it if, in consideration of those children, you could avoid putting nuts in your child’s packed lunch. Even traces of nut oil on a person’s hands can have a severe effect on anyone with an allergy of this nature. To remove the risk, we would request children do not bring nuts of any variety to school.
NSBP breakfast scheme
Our school is taking part in the National School Breakfast Programme which runs until March 2021. Every child will receive a free breakfast each morning to eat in their classroom until our usual breakfast club can be resumed safely.