The food at Queen’s is superb! Meals are homemade in the Queen’s College kitchens and using locally sourced products and sustainable produce wherever possible, menus rotate on a three-weekly cycle.
Nutrition – The importance of a balanced diet
A balanced and varied diet throughout the school is essential and can directly impact pupil’s growth, development, behaviour and educational attainment. It is vital that students are provided with the right environment, education and food offering to enable them to form healthy eating habits – an integral skill that will support students throughout life.
Our catering team are committed to providing a nutritionally balanced meal to all students at Queen’s College. Our chefs are always considering healthy eating by ensuring the menus meet the team’s own nutritional guidelines. These guidelines have been designed to exceed nutritional standards and they not only take into consideration children and teenagers nutritional requirements but any Government recommendations are also implemented.
We pride ourselves on delivering the finest ingredients that have been sourced from high-quality local and regional suppliers who care about their produce. Our local suppliers not only supply our food but they are also delighted to support all of our schools with meet your supplier demonstrations. We believe that an increased understanding of food and where it is produced helps to encourage students to be more adventurous in the dining room.
Our team works actively with the students to ensure that the right variety, portion sizes and offering is available. We also thrive on getting students to try something new and therefore have introduced a tasting table concept – a tool used by our chefs to get students to try a new seasonal ingredient every term.
Our caters believes that enhancing pupils’ knowledge and understanding of food and nutrition goes hand in hand with providing a nutritious and balanced menu. We are committed in providing healthy eating talks, workshops and promotional activities to embed nutrition and food into the school community.
Educating students on the importance of leading healthy lifestyles is essential in helping lay the foundations for future habits.
Youngsters are also able to take part in Discovery Days – when they can try new foods – special Theme Days, Meet the Supplier events and Cooking for Life, which teaches basic cookery and nutritional skills to the over 14s.
Dietary Requirements
We cater for special diets and our catering staff, who know the pupils so well, are aware if a particular child is allergic or unable to eat a certain food type.
Food Hygiene Rating
We are delighted that both our Highgrove Nursery and main School have a five-star rating for food hygiene after inspections by the Food Standards Agency.
Nursery and Pre-Prep
Pre-Prep and Nursery have their own dining room especially for the younger children and encourage good manners and the art of conversation – making lunch a sociable and happy experience for everyone. We have two lunchtime sittings. Nursery and Reception eat at midday, followed by Year 1 and 2 children at 12.30 pm. The staff always sit and eat with the children.
