Healthy School

Here at Dorothy Stringer we take healthy eating very seriously, and this is reflected in the quality of our school canteen and the food provided there. We serve a wide range of hot and cold meals, as well as a good selection of "quick bites" including sandwiches and baguettes, mini quiches, cheese straws, muffins and cookies - all made freshly on the premises daily! Most of these quick bites are only available during breaktime. Sandwiches and baguettes are also available during lunchtime. We also offer assorted salad boxes, cous cous, rice and fruit. Look for the green text on packaging to identify "Healthy Options". We have a daily "Meal of the Day" as well as daily specials, all made using fresh meat and vegetables delivered to us on a daily basis, using a high quality supplier. Our hot meals range from the traditional roasts and shepherds pie, to curries, noodles and chop suey! Jacket potatoes are a very popular option, served with a wide variety of toppings suitable for meat eaters, vegeatarians and vegans. We work hard to provide a wide variety to suit all tastes - there is something for even the fussiest of taste buds! Vegetarian diners are well taken of too! We offer a wide range of vegetarian options, both hot and cold. The numbers of staff and pupils now using the canteen are on the up, which is fantastic. No longer are school meals the subject of ridicule! We are always interested in feedback from anyone dining with us and we try to take onboard all of your suggestions to make our canteen as good as it possibly can be. So why not come and give it a try!

Get served quicker by using a "Jarvis Card" when buying your food from the canteen. These are small credit card like cards that can be topped up with credit much the same as a phone card. This saves the need for pupils to be carrying around cash all day. Jarvis Cards can be purchased from the canteen for £2.50. Credit can then be added to the card using the revaluation machine just outside of the canteen entrance. Most people prefer to do this on a weekly basis, bringing in enough money at the start of the week to provide them with enough credit until the following Monday. These credits can be paid in by cash at any time of the day, or by cheque before 10am. This will allow us time to credit the cards manually before breaktime starts at 11am. If you would like to pay using a cheque then these MUST be made payable to Jarvis Workspace FM Ltd. You will also need to write the name of the child, their Jarvis Card number and their form group on the back of the cheque. Failure to fill the cheque out correctly will result in a delay in crediting the Jarvis Card, which may mean that your child does not have money to buy their lunch that day. So please take care when filling cheques out! If a child loses or damages their Jarvis Card then replacements can be purchsed from staff in the canteen before 11am.

Update 2008 We continue to look for ways to improve the canteen arrangement. We have regular meetings with the canteen staff to review things like: Meal of the day choices Healthy Options Quality Ways to speed up the serving process Prices New ideas suggested by the school community Having successfully organised a pasta taster session last year, the pasta bar continues to go from strength to strength, serving hot pasta daily, usually with a choice of two sauces, one of which is suitable for vegans or vegetarians.