Catering and free school meals

Our catering service is provided by Nottinghamshire County Council which operates on a rotating menu with a variety of options. Lunch is served in the dining hall and we offer nutritious meals as well as snacks at break time.

We encourage students to eat a healthy diet to support their ongoing health and development, and cater for most tastes. We also offer a number of themed days throughout the year to celebrate different cultures and encourage our academy community to broaden their food experiences.

We consult our students on their opinions of the quality, variety and choice in the canteen, and their suggestions have been implemented by the catering team for the benefit of all students.

We operate a cashless catering system called iPayimpact, which uses biometric data from student fingerprints to pay for meals. Money can be credited to student accounts using coins or notes at machines in the academy or parents can add funds electronically to their child’s account via our secure system. Find out more about online payments.

Free school meals

From the start of the 2026 to 2027 academic year, Free School Meal (FSM) eligibility has been expanded to include all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit regardless of household earnings.

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
• income-related employment and support allowance
• support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• the guaranteed element of pension credit
• Children who get paid these benefits directly, instead of through a parent or guardian, can also get free school meals.

From September 2026, there will be two categories of benefits-based free school meals:

Targeted FSM, which continues to be based on the existing threshold, covering pupils who are in households in receipt of Universal Credit with annual household earnings of £7,400 or less

Expanded FSM, a new category covering pupils who do not qualify for targeted FSM, but who are in households receiving Universal Credit

If you think that your child(ren) may be entitled to free school meals then you can either apply online or download a form via the Nottinghamshire County Council website here, or phone them on 0300 500 80 80.

Once your application has been approved, the council will inform the academy and we can then start providing free school meals for your child(ren). We treat all recipients with complete discretion.

We are here to help, so contact us if you have any queries or concerns you would like to discuss directly with the academy.