Kings’ Cafe

The Kings Café is a lovely dining space open daily from 8.00am to 3.30pm for students and staff to purchase healthy and delicious food and drink served by our Catering Team led by our Catering Manager Colette Brimble.

The Team ensures that all meals and snacks meet the Government’s nutrition regulations for food served in schools, and all ingredients and allergens are stated clearly. (See below for more information).

At busy times, Years 9 and 10 students with packed lunches eat in the Main Hall and in the spring and summer/warmer months students can eat in the outside picnic areas, as well as in their own House areas.

We offer a ‘meal deal’ option, which is highly used by both staff and students. This is £3.50, and includes, a main meal, pudding and a bottle of water. Or a sandwich meal deal at £3.50, which includes, a sandwich/roll, piece of homemade cake, and a bottle of water.

Menus and Price Lists

Cashless Catering

Every student joining our Academy has their own personal catering account setup for their catering needs. A cashless catering system allows us to speed up our service and utilise online payments as a cash alternative.

The biometric system is undergone by each student paying with either their left or right thumb print; or, for those with a payment card, they insert an individual five digit pin code, unique to them. Each student’s personal catering account can be credited by parents/carers seven days a week, 24 hours a day via ParentPay as an online payment system; Click for our ParentPay login, allowing up to 15 minutes before the student begins to make a purchase, as we have a £0 credit balance. Each student online credit system is debited immediately after every purchase made within our cafe.

We do not have a top up station within our school. All top ups of credit have to be made online via ParentPay.

We closely abide by the government’s guidance for biometric systems in schools to ensure every student is safe (for more information please read the file below). Consent from the student is required by us, before any biometric data is collected and processed. If one parent/carer objects in writing to this biometric system, (even if the second has approved), no biometric data can be taken, and a cashless card will be issued. This is only for students below Year 9. Year 9 and above will automatically be required to use our biometric system. Parents or carers wishing to withdraw, or not give consent, should do so in writing addressed to the Finance Officer, Mandy Ladd at The Kings of Wessex Academy. Withdrawal of consent will mean students will be issued with a cashless card and a five digit pin number to be used as payments at the tills, rather than a thumb print.

Our choice of cashless catering is to help speed up transactions within our busiest periods of break and lunch times. This helps to ensure every student is able to buy from us, quickly and effectively. This helps to speed up our service, and allows us to go cashless.

Free School Meals

Do you qualify for free school meals?

Parents/carers who receive any of the following are entitled to free school meals:

• Universal Credit
• Income Support (IS)
• Employment and Support Allowance (Income Related) – not Contribution related
• Income-based Job Seekers Allowance (IBJSA) – not Contribution based
• Guaranteed Element of State Pension Credit.
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• Child Tax Credit with an annual taxable income (as assessed by HMRC) of less than £16,190 as long as the family are not also in receipt of Working Tax Credit.

If you have recently become unemployed but are still receiving working Tax credits, you may be entitled to free school meals, please call 0300 123 2224 for advice.

For more information and to apply for free school meals please visit the Somerset Council Website.

Allergen and Nutritional Information

Every student has different dietary requirements, and may have allergies towards certain food ingredients. All the students’ dietary requirements will be flagged on their biometric or card system, to ensure food is checked when making a purchase at the till. We also ask the student to be diligent, and not hesitate to ask a member of our Catering Team if they are wary about an allergen in any of our food. We do expect our students to flag up their own dietary requirements to our catering staff when necessary. Parents/carers are asked to also keep the school informed of any updates on a student’s dietary requirements throughout their time in The Kings of Wessex Academy.

For any concerns regarding allergen advice, please contact Mrs Colette Brimble at cbrimble@kowessex.co.uk and these will be recorded and dealt with.