Skip to main content
The Thinking Schools Academy Trust logo

School Lunches

School Lunches

This information is correct for school year 2020/21, there may be changes in timings and operation for the 2021/22 school year.

We will not be using any cash payment, including the reval machine we previously used by the main hall,  All payments will need to be made by Iris PlusPay via the MyEd app.   For the initial period while parents are setting up PlusPay, food and drinks can still be purchased, and the payment will taken when money is loaded into PlusPay.

There will be a reduced menu (see link below), which will be as a “grab and go”.  For break times students will be brought down in their year group bubbles to the dining hall to get any food or drinks and then will be in the Quad area.

At lunch times, students will be brought down in year group bubbles to dining hall and quad area for first 20 minutes.  The second 20 minutes of lunch will be on the hard standing area behind the sports hall.

If there is bad weather students will be in the sports hall and main hall, in year group bubbles.

Times of breaks and lunch

Year Group Morning Break Lunch Break
7 9.40 – 10.00 11.40-12.20
8 10.20 – 10.40 12.20-13.00
9 10.00-10.20 12.00-12.40
10 & 11 10.40-11.00 12.40-13.20

Pupils will sanitise hands before entering the dining hall, and using the thumb print scanner to get food.  These will be cleaned between each bubble year group.  Thumb prints for year 7 students will be collected on the first day,  PIN codes are available as an alternative if requested.

For more info about free school meals please click on the link below:

Free School Meals pupils get a daily allowance of £2.25 per day.  If they spend more than this (e.g. have an extra snack at breaktime) any spend over that value will be charged to their PlusPay account, and will need to be paid for.  If you wish for them to be able to spend over £2.25, you will need to add credit to your PlusPay account.

The daily allowance is not carried over, and their balance is topped up to £2.25 every day.

For more details on PlusPay click here.

For your child to be eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) you will need be in receipt of the following benefits:

  • Income Support
  • income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
  • income-related Employment and Support Allowance
  • support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
  • the guaranteed element of Pension Credit
  • Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
  • Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
  • Universal Credit – if you apply on or after 1 April 2018 your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)

If you are in receipt of one of the benefits above, you will need to apply to Portsmouth City Council (PCC).

You can do this by apply online at https://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/ext/schools/school-meals

Alternatively, you can download and complete the form – https://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/ext/documents-external/sch-schlmealsappfrm2015-16.pdf

Once PCC have assessed your child’s eligibility, they will send you a letter with the outcome and will include your child’s status on the weekly list that is sent to the school.


Please see introductory letter from Chartwells:

Menus are rotated on three weekly basis, see menus below:
Menus