Our Primary School menus are carefully developed to appeal to children and provide the perfect balance of essential nutrients - and to offer them the chance to try a few dishes they may not have tried before. Your child can choose from two main meal options provided every day, each one accompanied by a vegetable choice, and including a daily vegetarian dish. Jacket potatoes with an assortment of popular and tasty fillings are always available, too, served with an attractive side salad. Additional salad and wholemeal bread is also on offer each day along with a dessert of the day, a selection of yoghurts, cheese and crackers and fresh fruit. A range of cold drinks are also available.
If your child has a special dietary requirement - such as diabetic, coeliac, low fat and dairy intolerances or a food allergy - we will be happy to plan and provide a school meal that meets your child's needs.
We can also adapt menus to meet religious needs. Find out more about Special diets.
As a parent, you can be reassured that our menus meet - and exceed - national standards for school lunches. That's because we understand how the right nutrients can positively affect a child's mood, behaviour, health, growth and ability to concentrate in lessons. We also know how a well-balanced diet now helps to establish healthy eating habits for the future.
To maintain our high standards, we only use ingredients which are fully traceable and which come purely from local and regional suppliers. This not only reduces food miles, it also gives our chefs the freshest quality ingredients to work with.
We also demand the highest welfare standards. All of our eggs are free range and meet RSPCA Freedom Food standards, all fish is Marine Stewardship Approved (MSC), cocoa, sugar and bananas are guaranteed Fairtrade, and all meat and poultry meet the Red Tractor assured quality standard. We do not accept foods which are known to contain GM (genetically modified) foods, MRM (mechanically recovered meat), modified proteins, and specified flavourings and colourings.
Please note some schools may sometimes vary their menu slightly to the published menu.
Our meals times can be great fun. We occasionally run themed events as a way of injecting a bit of laughter into lunchtime - with our catering teams usually more than happy to get all dressed up for the occasion!
It's not unusual to come into a school dining room and find all the catering staff dressed up as superheroes, or Halloween monsters, or pirates, or figures from history.
We also put on special menus to celebrate certain events like Chinese New Year, American Independence Day, Halloween and, of course, Christmas.
Gateshead School Catering
Facilities Management
Shearlegs Road
Gateshead
NE8 3EN
0800 169 2780
schoolcatering@gateshead.gov.uk
