As the term begins, we thought we’d update you on our catering provision.
The Food Hall hours are 7.45 am until 4.30 pm, offering breakfast, break/lunch menus and after-school items. Healthy and balanced meals are freshly prepared at lunchtimes along with a wide range of ‘food to go’ at breaktimes. The menu changes weekly but always offers a fantastic selection of hot meals, salads, baguettes and sandwiches, with our three-week menu system providing variety of choice. There is a good selection available after school to cater for students who have stayed for clubs or activities and find themselves in need of a bite before they go home.
Full details of the menus available may be found on our website, or by clicking HERE. On this page you will also find tariffs, allergen details, details of Natasha’s Law and a link to Monmouthshire County Council, if you feel you might be eligible for free school meals.
The free school meal allowance is £1.95 per day – this allows a student to purchase food during the day with the meal of the day (main meal and pudding) being the best option. Please note that once this limit is reached during the day, students will not be able to go over £1.95 unless parents have decided to top up the account themselves to allow their child to purchase other items.
Did you know that if your child receives free school meals and you are in receipt of a qualifying benefit, you may also be able to get up to £230 off your annual water bill? Contact Welsh Water on 0800 052 0145 or check out the website – dwrcymru.com/HelpWithBills – for more information.
ParentPay
As you are aware, we operate the Parentpay system at school, with parents topping up their child’s account regularly to ensure they are able to access the Food Hall during their breaks or before and after school.
We have always had a £5 daily limit in place with parents able to contact the school to increase or decrease the daily limit, as they see fit. Please discuss this daily limit with your child, perhaps using the link above to go through to the menu/food list to work out the best value for their allowance. Please remember to factor in breakfast items or after school items, if you wish them to use the Food Hall for this. This will also introduce students to the idea of budgeting their daily allowance – a valuable life skill.
You are also able to specify certain items that you do not wish your child to purchase. This information comes up on the till point screen, once your child has used their finger scan/given their name and the till operator is able to advise the student that they are not allowed to purchase, for example, any bottled drinks or a particular item because of food allergies. Obviously, you will have already discussed this with your child, but sometimes they forget. However, once this daily limit is in place – either the standard limit, or one set by yourself – students cannot exceed this limit. We are sure you will agree that a £5 daily limit (or whatever you decide to set) is more than adequate to purchase food during the school day. One item which can cause a serious dent in the allowance set is the purchase of drinks during the day. We have ample water fountains around the school which means students are able to refill their own bottles for free during their breaktimes.
We hope this gives you more of an idea of what is available in our Food Hall but if you have any queries at all, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Students from 7AL helped set up our school memorial to commemorate those who have been, and are being, affected by war.
Our act of Remembrance as a community allows us to give thanks to those who serve and sacrifice to defend our way of life and who gave their today for our tomorrow; to be a community and reflect on what we have in common; to understand who we are and to learn as we all for a better and more peaceful future.
A Fearless Knife Crime Awareness Workshop 
This year we have several fundraising events planned next week for Children in Need.
Anwen Dehareng (Y7) represented MSC at the Welsh Schools Pistol Championships 2022 during October half-term. 
into our school community for younger students.
