In June 2025, we announced an expansion of free school meals (FSM) to all households that receive Universal Credit. This will take effect from the start of the 2026 to 2027 school year and applies to all settings currently required to provide FSM to eligible pupils.

Transitional protections for free meals will finish at the end of the current school year. From the start of the next school year, pupils must meet the FSM eligibility criteria to continue receiving provision. Schools and local authorities should check FSM entitlement annually ahead of the October school census.

We have published updated guidance for schools and local authorities setting out how the new FSM entitlement should be administered.

Year 10 students have been hard at work both in and out of lessons over the last two terms gaining "Egg-stravaganza" points. Points were awarded for getting merits, maintaining excellent attendance and punctuality, taking part in extracurricular activities, and demonstrating the consistent hard work we so often see from our "silent achievers"— plus any other reasons teachers felt were worthy of a point or two!

•  A special mention goes to Zalan, who topped the leaderboard with an amazing 143 points!

• Congratulations to runners up: Christopher, Winter, Evie, Toby, and Annabelle, who all took home an egg-related prize too.

All other participants were entered into a high-stakes prize draw for a massive pile of chocolate. While so many deserved to win, there was only one spin of the prize wheel and the winner was - Ali.  We certainly hope he decided to share some of his winnings in the end!

Does your child look after or provide support for someone at home?

Congratulations to the Year 8 Winners and Runner-ups in the Make it My Business Final which took place just before the Easter holidays. All year 8 students were involved in creating a business idea and presenting it to their mentor groups.

Six teams, one from each mentor group, were selected to go through to the final. The competition was close. Our judges were impressed with the high-quality presentations, and innovative ideas. Thank you for the support of everyone involved. We give particular thanks to mentors and our judges, Miss Castelain, Ms Aherne, Mr Tucker and Mr Gibbons.

The International Food Evening is taking place 19th May 2025. During this event, Year 7 students select and research various international cuisines. They take great pride in setting up stalls where they prepare and share their culinary creations with their parents. As part of the event, the Food and Nutrition department organises a raffle and tombola to raise funds for the department, which allows us to buy new equipment such as tablets, ice cream machines, waffle makers etc. We are therefore requesting donations (big and small) for the event. Toiletries, chocolates, biscuits, vouchers, stationary etc are all perfect and much appreciated. Please ask students to drop off any items to a member of staff in our department at your earliest convenience.  

Many Thanks

The Food and Nutrition Team  

Exams start on Tuesday 21 April and finish on Tuesday 28 April.