Our catering is provided by our partner Caterlink who are committed to sourcing local fresh ingredients. All main meals are freshly prepared and made with Red Tractor/Farm Assured fresh meat where appropriate. Caterlink use produce with high standards of animal welfare and a range of fair trade produce. Working closely with suppliers enables Caterlink to deliver a fantastic, high quality food service and where practical, sustain the local supply chain to support local famers in the British countryside.
Our kitchen at Melbourn Village College is a nut free kitchen.
At Melbourn Village College we use a Cashless Catering system which incorporates the latest technology and eliminates the need for pupils to carry cash through the day.
Online payment should be made through www.parentpay.com. Accounts can be topped up using debit and credit cards. Any amount of money can be paid into a pupil’s account, and any money spent on food and drink will be deducted on a daily basis.
Your child’s account will be automatically set-up for you, and they will be able to use it immediately by simply giving their name at the tills.
We ask parents to sign up to the biometric registration when you join MVC, which allows the child to simply place a thumb on a reader to access their account.
Benefits of cashless catering
- Increased speed of service reducing queuing times
- Anonymity on Free School Meals
- Facility to pay On-Line for parents
- No need to carry cash preventing loss
- Pupils learn about important lifestyle control by monitoring their own accounts
What is the Biometric System?
Biometric is simply a method of identifying an individual person. We will be using an algorithm based scan, which reads between 50 & 130 points on the finger/thumb. It is not a fingerprint in anyway, shape or form and is of use only in the cashless system. Your child will attend at a requested time when they join MVC and they will be required to place their finger/thumb on a Biometric sensor twice to obtain a matching template, which only takes a few seconds. If you have chosen to opt out of this procedure, your child will be presented with a 4 digit PIN Code.
Main Meals
Freshly cooked hot meals are served every day, including popular favourites such as roast dinners and pasta bakes. Each meal is served with vegetable or salad sides. Our meal deal includes a hot main meal with either a drink or dessert.
Grab & Go
Perfect for busy days – students can choose from wraps, pasta pots and more. Everything is freshly made, easy to carry, and full of flavour. Grab & Go snacks are also available at breaktime.
When you register your children for Free School Meals, the College receives a sum of money from the government for each child, called the Pupil Premium. This money is used to provide a range of educational benefits for pupils across the school, which can include assistance with paying for extra-curricular activities and visits, and music lessons. Even if you do not wish your child to claim free lunches, by registering for them, you will allow the school to claim the associated Pupil Premium. No other benefits that you may be claiming are affected by this.
Free School Meals are available to children of families who are in receipt of:
- Income Support
- Income Based Jobseekers Allowance
- An income-related employment and support allowance
- Support under part V1 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- The Guarantee element of State Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit, provided they are not entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual income (as assessed by HM Revenue & Customs) that does not exceed £16,190
Parents receiving Working Tax Credit for four weeks after their employment finishes are entitled to free school meals during that period. This also applies to parents who start working less that 16 hours per week (please seek advice about this from the Benefits Agency).
Families can access the online application at www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/freeschoolmeals.
The form is quick and simple to complete. Once an application has been submitted for a child, if you do not qualify at that point, they will continue to check for future entitlement throughout your child’s school life, informing parents if they become eligible.
Pupils who receive free school meals have £2.50 placed in their biometric account daily every school day to allow for the purchase of a meal deal which includes a drink or dessert. Any purchases made over the FSM allowance, will require funds to be added to the account by the parents and carers. At the end of the day, any remaining money is removed from the account.