School Meal Service

Our school dinners are cooked on the premises by Lancashire County Council's Catering Service. We offer a choice of meals to suit different tastes and do our best to accommodate pupils’ individual dietary requirements, helping to ensure that every child can enjoy a suitable school dinner.

Free School Meals

Your child may be eligible for free school meals if your family receives certain benefits.

To check the eligibility criteria for free school meals and find out how to apply, please visit: Apply for free school meals - GOV.UK

Children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are entitled to universal infant free school meals, regardless of family income.

If you have any questions or require assistance, please contact the school office.

Packed Lunches

Children are welcome to bring a packed lunch to school. We encourage healthy eating and promote this throughout the school day, including in the dining hall.

We ask parents and carers to support our approach by providing a healthy, balanced packed lunch. Please do not include sweets, chocolate, fizzy drinks, glass bottles or cans.

Thank you for your support in helping us promote healthy eating at Woodlands School.

ParentPay

We accept online payments for school dinners through ParentPay, a secure online payment service.

You can use ParentPay to pay quickly and conveniently using your credit or debit card. We encourage all parents and carers to use ParentPay, as it is our preferred method of making payments to the school.

What are the benefits to parents & pupils?

What are the benefits to our school?

ParentPay is easy-to-use and will offer you the freedom to make online payments whenever and wherever you like, 24/7
The technology used is of the highest internet security available ensuring that your money will reach school safely – offering you peace of mind
Payments can be made by credit/debit card or also through PayPoint
Full payment histories, balance alerts and statements are available to you securely online at anytime

Creates more time to lend to educational support and the smooth running of the school
You can help us reduce workloads for all staff as no more counting cash, chasing debt and stop cash collection services
Improves school security
Using ParentPay also ensures that all financial transactions are safe and secure - helping us to remove costs associated with us having to manage cash securely on the school premises
The more parents that use ParentPay, the greater the benefit is to our school.

Setting Up Your Account

You will receive information about ParentPay, including your account activation details, in your child’s student starter pack when they start at Woodlands School.

To activate your account:

Visit ParentPay and click on the login option.
Enter the activation username and password provided by the school. These details can only be used once.
Follow the on-screen instructions to complete your registration and create your own username and password.
Register your email address to receive payment receipts and reminders.

Ordering School Meals

Parents and carers can order school meals through their ParentPay account. For guidance on ordering meals and completing the payment process, please visit: How-to-make-meal-or-event-bookings.pdf

We encourage parents whose children usually bring their own packed lunch to sign up too, for those odd occasions that packed lunches are forgotten or you want them to have an ad hoc dinner.

If your child is entitled to Universal Infant Free School Meals or Free School Meals, you still need to complete the meal ordering process. No payment will be required for eligible meals.

Dietary Requirements and Allergies

We are able to add your child’s dietary and allergy needs. This will stop you from ordering any food that may contain traces of any foods they should not have.

If you have any questions or require assistance with ParentPay, please contact the school office, who will be happy to help.