Parents

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We recognise that well-nourished children focus better and learn more in the classroom, leading to better performance.

As a Pathfinder school, we are committed to ensuring that every child has access to nutritious, high-quality food during the school day. Our approach is designed to reduce food poverty, promote inclusion, and ensure that all pupils have a positive food experience.

Catering

Students have a number of options to purchase food throughout the day:

  • From 8.15am students can purchase breakfast from the West Wing Hall, including cereals, porridge, toast, bagels and bacon or sausage sandwiches.
  • At break times (10.00am-10.10am and 11.25am-11.40am), the West Wing Hall is open for the sale of warm paninis, rolls, sandwiches and buns, along with cold drinks.
  • At lunchtimes (12.55pm-1.40pm) students can purchase a range of freshly prepared hot and cold meals from the canteen in the West Wing Hall.

Additionally, both the East and West Wing have water fountains, with cold water available throughout the day.  Students are advised to bring their own water bottle with them to fill up.  We regret that we are unable to provide students with either bottles or cups for water.

Catering is provided by our in-house team led by Mrs Gordon, Catering Manager.  Mrs Gordon and her team aim to give our students:

  • The best in local ingredients
  • Value for money with meal deals available
  • Menus which are refreshed every term to reflect the seasons and offer something new.

Menus

We offer a changing daily choice of food items including hot and cold options.  Our aim is to have a 3 week rolling menu each term.  You can see the Autumn 2026 range of hot menu choices below:

Students are free to put together their own lunch menu or choose from one of our 3 daily meal deals.  For the 2026/27 academic year, all the meal deals are £3.30 and there is a choice of hot or cold food.  Jugs of cold water and beakers are also available in the West Wing Hall so all students can help themselves to a drink.

Below is an example of our meal deal choices, however, please be aware this list is not exhaustive.  A price list of items that can be purchased on a lunchtime can be found here.

Meal Deals

Hot Meal Deal – £3.30

There is always a choice of a meat or vegetarian main meal.  Below are just 2 examples from our range of hot meal options:

Day 1

  • Main Course: Chicken korma, rice, naan + 1 vegetable
  • Vegetarian Main Course: Sweet potato korma, rice, naan + 1 vegetable
  • Pudding: Apple crumble with custard
    (Instead of a hot pudding students may opt for a traybake OR a piece of fruit OR a yogurt)

Day 2

  • Main Course: Roast pork, stuffing, yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, gravy + 2 vegetables
  • Vegetarian Main Course: Leek & spinach bake + 2 vegetables
  • Pudding: Syrup sponge and custard
    (Instead of a hot pudding students may opt for a traybake OR a piece of fruit OR a yogurt)

Cold Meal Deal – £3.30

There are 2 cold sandwich meal deals offered daily:

Daily Sandwich

  • Triangle sandwich with a selection of fillings which may include: Ham salad OR egg OR cheese
  • Traybake OR a piece of fruit OR a yogurt
  • Chilled drink (please note not all cold drinks are included within the Meal Deal option)

Premier Sandwich

  • Wrap OR baguette with a selection of fillings which may include: Ham salad OR egg OR cheese
  • And then EITHER:
    • Traybake OR a piece of fruit OR a yogurt
  • OR:
    • Chilled drink (please note not all cold drinks are included within the Meal Deal option)

Sixth Form

In addition, Sixth Form students have their own dedicated servery open from 10.30am-1.30pm.  You can find the servery menu for the Autumn Term 2025 here.

Free School Meals

Students on free school meals are entitled to a meal deal every day, or any of the individual options on the menu up to a value of £3.30.  Please note that the free school meal allowance is a fixed daily limit.  We regret that any underspend cannot be carried over to subsequent days.

If you think you may be eligible for free school meals and have not yet registered, please use this link to do so: https://apply.cloudforedu.org.uk/ofsm/sims. From September 2026 all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit will be entitled to receive a free meal. By using the link, if your financial circumstances change and you later become eligible, school will be able to ensure your child receives this benefit.

Payment

We operate a cashless catering system via ParentPay so students do not have to carry cash around with them. When purchasing food from our catering team students will either use their thumb where consent for use of their biometric data has been given, and where consent is not given via a 4-digit PIN. Parents can top-up the balance on their child’s account at any point using their ParentPay login.

Food Allergies and Intolerances

If your child has a food allergy or intolerance, please ensure you have advised us of this via the Medical Information Form.  (Parents should receive a copy of this form when they enrol their child with us). You can read a copy of our Allergy Safety Policy here.

Our catering team are able to provide substitutes for students with food allergies and intolerances if they are made aware of them. If your child has an allergy or intolerance, please email Mrs Gordon in the first instance to discuss their requirements (acg@malton.pmat.academy).

Contact Details

The Catering Team are committed to delivering great service and putting the dining experience at the heart of the school day.

For more information or if you have any questions, please

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