Healthy Eating
At Cathedral we promote the importance of establishing healthy eating habits from an early age. Students can enjoy a varied range of meals, snacks and drinks in our onsite Restaurant. Our dedicated team cook, bake and create food in-house.
We are pleased to offer a FREE healthy school breakfast every day from 8am, enjoying the benefits that brings, with children settled and ready to learn at the start of the school day. This is available to all and subsidised through support from Magic Breakfast. Evidence from the University of Leeds suggests that students who frequently eat breakfast achieve almost 2 GCSE grades more than those who do not.
Students have a half hour lunch split by year group, and are encouraged to make their way to the Restaurant when the bell goes so that they can make the most of their break. We do not allow food to be eaten in any of our classrooms or corridors, and students bringing a packed lunch will need to eat this in the Restaurant.
Please note that we are a Healthy School, and as part of this we ask that students do not bring in fizzy and energy drinks and ‘family sized’ and multi-packs of crisps, chocolate and other unhealthy items. Naturally, students are welcome to bring standard sized treat items and are encouraged to enjoy these as part of a balanced diet. We have water dispensers in the building so we encourage students to bring a refillable bottle.
We are a cashless school. Parents are required to use ParentPay, the secure online system, for making payments to the academy and using this payment method will help students to get the very most from their lunch break. This also has the added benefit of you being able to see the purchases they have selected in the Restaurant, supporting your own approach to healthy eating in the home! You can also top-up the account should your child be in receipt of Free School Meals, and you can also still see what they have selected.
The academy would not prevent a child having a school meal. To have an overdrawn balance authorised a student must speak directly to their Student Liaison Officer or the attendance team.
We suggest that parents consider whether they may be eligible for Free School Meals. Students in receipt of FSM purchase their items in exactly the same way, and their account is topped up daily.
