School Meals
Our school meals are provided by North Yorkshire County Caterers. Our Menu includes three choices per day (one being a vegetarian option). There will also be fresh bread, a dessert or a choice of fresh fruit or yogurt each day. Our current School Menu can be viewed here.
Meals at Moorside Primary School & Nursery will cost £3.55 per day for children in Years 3-6 and £2.50 per day for Nursery children. Children from Reception – Y2 benefit from the Government’s Universal Infant Free School Meals.
If you would like your child to have a school meal, but are struggling financially, please check the information below to see if you are eligible for Free School Meals.
There are many reasons why children benefit from staying for school lunches. Children use up a great deal of energy during a full school day. They need to concentrate during lessons, let off steam at play times and recharge their batteries for the afternoon.
Eating a school meal helps to achieve this and provides the following:
- Hot, healthy and nutritionally balanced menus which meet the Government food standards.
- A selection of homemade products and meals that pupils will recognise which provide choice and variety to suit all tastes.
- Value for money for a two course meal.
- Convenience – saving you time preparing packed lunches.
- Enhanced learning abilities – studies have shown that children concentrate better in lessons if they have had a fulfilling lunchtime meal.
- Teaches children the social skills involved with eating with others and how to make choices – learning need not stop when the lunch bell goes.
- Allows a child to relax in a safe, supervised environment with friends.
Free School Meals
Free school meals are available to all year groups and eligibility has changed from September 2026.
The Department for Education has extended the entitlement to free school meals to include all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit, regardless of household income. Although eligibility will be granted to all Universal Credit recipients, it is important to note that families do still need to apply to receive the meals. However, if your child is already registered for free school meals you do not have to apply. The transitional protection that was in place while Universal Credit was rolled out has now ended.
You could save around £500 on school meals for your child. School meals can also save you time and provide peace of mind that your child is enjoying a healthy, fresh, and nutritious meal at lunchtime.
A pupil is only eligible to receive free school meals where both:
- the parent or carer has applied for free school meals;
- their eligibility has been checked and confirmed by the school where they are enrolled or by the local authority.
Free school meals are available to pupils in receipt of, or whose parents are in receipt of, one or more of the following benefits:
- Universal Credit;
- Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
Households may also be entitled to a meal if they:
- are in receipt of income-related Employment and Support Allowance;
- receive the guarantee element of Pension Credit;
- meet criteria set out in separate guidance for families with no recourse to public funds.
Following the eligibility changes, there are now two types of free school meals criteria:
- targeted free school meals.
- expanded free school meals.
Targeted Free School Meals
Children from households in receipt of Universal Credit with annual household earnings of £7,400 or less (the existing threshold for free school meals prior to the expansion), will be eligible for targeted free school meals.
In addition to receiving free meals, pupils eligible for targeted free school meals will attract pupil premium and other disadvantage funding for their schools, as well as other education entitlements, such as the holiday activities and food programme (HAF/ FEAST).
Expanded Free School Meals
Children from households in receipt of Universal Credit, with annual household earnings exceeding £7,400, will be entitled to expanded free school meals (meals only).
Universal Infant Free School Meals
Children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 will continue to be entitled to free meals, regardless of the earnings or benefit status of their households. However if you also qualify for any of the financial support for targeted free school meals, we encourage you to complete our online form as this could enable school to claim the Pupil Premium Funding to further support them.
How to Apply for Free School Meals
You will need to apply to North Yorkshire Council using the link below:
They will send you an instant decision on whether your application is successful. If it is, they will fully process the application in five working days and notify us. Once we have received this, your child can begin enjoying free school meals. You should continue to pay until confirmation comes through.
Free school meals claims cannot be backdated. They are awarded from the date North Yorkshire Council receive the application, once eligibility is confirmed. This is because there is a legal requirement for a request to be made, before a free school meal can be provided. If you are not entitled to free school meals, you will be notified in writing.
FEAST – Holiday Activities with food Programme
A range of holiday activity schemes will be available for children and young people during the Christmas, Easter and Summer school holidays. For more information, visit our FEAST: holiday activities with food programme page.
Auto Enrolment
Once a year North Yorkshire Council will check to find households who appear to qualify for free school meals but have not made an application. They will contact the families they have identified directly by letter to explain how they can help automatically enrol them onto free schools meals if they wish to receive them.
If you are unable to apply for Free School Meals using the link above, please apply by using one of the following forms:
For Children in Reception & KS1 (Y1 & Y2): please click here
For Children in KS2 (Y3, Y4, Y5 & Y6): please click here
