School Meals – Menus, Meal Choices and Payments

School Menus

Our school meals offer a variety of nutritious and balanced options, including hot meals, vegetarian dishes, deli choices and desserts. Baked potatoes with a choice of toppings, fresh fruit, freshly baked bread, yoghurt and water are also available daily.

Please see the attached Autumn/Winter Menu and Menu Cycle Dates for details of the meals available and the weeks in which they will be served.

Meal Selections on Arbor

Parents and carers must use Arbor to record their child's daily meal preference, selecting either school dinner or packed lunch for every school day.

A meal preference must be recorded for every child, every day, including children who always bring a packed lunch. You do not need to select a specific meal from the menu; simply indicate whether your child will be having a school dinner or bringing a packed lunch.

You can manage meal selections for the whole academic year or update them termly, monthly, weekly or daily. If you have more than one child at the school, please complete the selections separately for each child.

To record or amend meal preferences, log in to Arbor and navigate to Quick Actions > Meals.

Click here for guidance on choosing meals in Arbor.

Please ensure that your child's meal preferences are kept up to date, particularly when moving between menu cycles or if their arrangements change.

School Meal Prices and Payments

All school lunch payments must be made through Arbor. Accounts must have sufficient credit for school dinners to be ordered.

The current meal prices are:

• Pre-School: £3.70
• Reception to Year 2: Free under Universal Infant Free School Meals
• Year 3 to Year 6: £3.08

These prices are set by Durham County Council. Children who are eligible for free school meals will not be charged, as their eligibility is recorded in Arbor.

Changes and Missed Selections

Meal selections close on the morning the meal is due to be served. If your child's meal preference changes, please update Arbor within the timeframe shown in the app or Parent Portal.

It is the responsibility of parents and carers to ensure that meal preferences are recorded and kept up to date.

If no meal choice has been recorded, we will check whether your child has brought a packed lunch. If they have not, a member of the school office team will contact you to ask you either to add sufficient credit to Arbor so that a school dinner can be ordered or to bring a packed lunch to school.

If the account has not been topped up by 10:30am, your child will be given a sandwich from the kitchen and you will be charged the full price of a school dinner.

Pre-School Meal Arrangements

Pre-School children do not select meals through Arbor. Arrangements remain as discussed with Jenny Wood, Pre-School Manager. Pre-School children follow the same menu as the rest of the school.

Questions or Queries

If you experience any problems with Arbor or have questions about school meals, please contact the school office at cheveleypark@durhamlearning.net.

Thank you for your cooperation in ensuring that all children have a meal preference recorded and that meal arrangements run smoothly.