Catering
Responsible Catering
Aspens take their responsibility of catering for today’s children and young adults seriously. All of their dishes are prepared everyday using quality, fresh and seasonal ingredients that are responsibly sourced.
As well as ensuring the food on the plate is healthy, they want their customers to understand the importance of eating the right foods and help them with their food and nutrition journey. Don’t think that your child can’t enjoy our great food if they have a special diet - they are an important part of their catering service. They can provide food if they have an intolerance, an allergy, or require an alternative choice due to religious beliefs.
Legislation requires caterers to provide allergen information on food sold that is served ‘unpackaged’. Aspens already cater for lots of children with allergies and they regularly check the information from suppliers to see if there have been any ingredient changes. It is still important that their customers talk to them so they can work together and continue to provide meals that are safe for them to eat.
They offer quality, variety and choice – at an affordable price. They purchase our food responsibly through a transparent process and they are proud to buy from British farmers and producers. There suppliers are checked and validated by NSF, a global leader in supporting businesses to buy from assured supply chains.
Buying British enables them to invest in local communities, reduce their food miles, and source a huge range of seasonal produce to incorporate into their menus.
They understand that these are challenging times and that due to that they are seeing a lot more food require individual packaging. However, they are committed to engaging with their schools and student body groups to reduce where at all possible the need for single use plastics, such as replacing them with more easily recycled cans etc.
They take their environmental impacts seriously and as such have taken steps to offset this through initiatives such as reducing the numbers of deliveries into sites, thereby reducing the amount of food miles. They also empower students to reduce, reuse and recycle through our marketing materials on site.
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Canteen
Fareham Academy Canteen is open during break and lunchtime and will be only offering a selection of takeaway food.
When a student joins Fareham Academy, a canteen account is created for them. Parents and students can add to the value of their child's account by electronic transfer over the internet via ParentPay however, we do have an onsite top up machine available.
The canteen account must be kept in credit at all times and students can check their balances easily.
Students entitled to Free School Meals will have their daily allowance (currently £2.60) added to their account every morning. Any unused Free School Meal allowance will be removed from the account as soon as lunchtime is over.
From 1st September 2023, this will increase to £3.00 per day.
When the canteen is open, students choose their meals & snacks and take the items to the till points where they are identified by way of biometric fingerprint recognition technology. The till point then electronically shows the till operator a photo of the student as confirmation of identity and the student then purchases their meal, as long as they have enough money in their account to cover the cost of the items selected.
Biometrics
Please be aware that there is a £6 a day spending limit on all biometrics accounts. This means that your child can only spend up to £6 per day even if more funds are available. Thank you for your co-operation.
CRB Cunninghams Biometrics Opt-in
Allergies and Intolerance
We are committed to working in partnership with our catering provider and providing meals for children needing special diets for medical requirements where possible. It is the student's responsibility to inform the catering team if they have an allergy.
Aspens work closely with their suppliers and aim to be as accurate as possible, but it must be noted that they can only be guided by the information the suppliers provide, similar to the process of a parent catering for a child’s special diet.
It is essential that all parties concerned work together when providing a safe diet and that this is reviewed with every menu change, therefore if your child has an allergy, please complete the 'Allergy and Intolerance Form' and return it to the school reception to be passed on to the catering provider.
Special Diets/ Allergy Form
Allergen Policy (October 2022)
Special Diets Parent Letter
Free School Meals
I think I’m eligible for free school meals – what should I do?
You can check your eligibility for Free School Meals, and make an application by visiting the following webpage:
https://www.hants.gov.uk/educationandlearning/freeschoolmeals/juniorsecondary
You will be told immediately if your application has been successful, and shortly afterwards you will appear on a list provided to the school by Hampshire County Council - once we receive this notification, we will liaise with the canteen to make sure everything is set up for you.
My child is joining from another school – what should I do?
When a student transfers to us from another school, the transferring school confirms their Free School Meals status, and no action is required on your behalf.
Fareham Academy checks eligibility for Free School Meals against information provided by Hampshire County Council to confirm eligibility. If the transferring school has marked a student as eligible when they are not on this list, we will contact Hampshire County Council in the first instance, and if they cannot find evidence of a qualifying application, we will contact you and advise you to complete an application.
ParentPay
Please be advised that unfortunately ParentPay does not give a decreasing balance on your child’s account at present. Students have been asked to check their accounts on a regular basis and inform parents of their running total. We are in the process of rectifying this with ParentPay.
Please note that all online payments need to be topped up before 11:00am or this will not appear on your child’s account until the following day.
Your continued support is greatly appreciated.
How do I credit my child's school meal balance?
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Navigate to www.parentpay.com and log in.
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Select the Pay for <child’s name> meals button with the symbol to credit your child’s school meal balance.
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Complete the amount you wish to pay (within the minimum and maximum defined by your school).
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Select Add to basket.
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Select View basket and pay.
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Review the order summary details and either:
Select Pay now (please note that the amount you are required to pay will be reduced by any credit you have in your Parent Account balance). Complete the secure checkout. You will be given a final opportunity to review your purchases prior to committing your card payment.
OR
Select Pay using Parent Account (if you have sufficient funds in your Parent Account balance). -
You will receive an onscreen notification when you have completed your payment
Catering Refunds
If your child leaves Fareham Academy, all refunds are processed by Aspens, issued via post and by cheque.
If the amount is lower than £2.00, no refunds will be made due to administration costs, however if there is a sibling within the Academy, you can email Mrs Payne on g.payne@fareham-academy.co.uk and their amount can be credited to their account.