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School Meals

Edsential

The school’s catering is contracted to Edsential. The Catering Service brings a fresh and energetic approach to providing top quality meals at lunchtime and at other times during the school day to deliver a whole school approach to provision of food. Edsential’s purpose is to provide children with healthy, affordable food choices that will help them perform well in school.  

Food is available before school 08:15-08:45am, at morning break 11:05-11:25am and at lunch time 12:25 – 13:00pm.  There are now currently 4 options for lunchtimes, the main dining room ('The Eatery') for hot meals and snacks, the East End servery for made to order wraps and sandwiches, our new pasta bar in the covered courtyard serving Pasta King (takeaway pots of pasta served with a variety of delicious sauces) and for Sixth Form only, The Beach Café, serving paninis, pastries and fresh coffee.

To find out more about our new pasta bar please visit: Pasta King Servery

Students who prefer to bring a packed lunch are welcome to use both the dining room and the East End areas, and students are welcome to switch between packed lunches and school meals freely any time they want. 

The current price for a main meal and a dessert is £2.62. 

Please click on the links below or download the menus at the bottom of this page to find out the hot and cold meal options each week. Please note these menu choices change every half-term.

Payments - ParentMail

Queen’s Park High School operates a cashless payment system called ParentMail.  Purchases are paid for by a student biometric print avoiding the necessity to bring money into school. ParentMail is also used to pay for your child’s trips. Find out more about ParentMail. 

We use a biometric system for ID, each student has their finger scanned when joining the school. This is not a fingerprint, only specific characteristics, which are unique to every fingerprint, are filtered and saved as an encrypted biometric key or mathematical representation. No image of a fingerprint is ever saved, only a series of numbers (a binary code), which is used for verification.

Prior to this, parents will be provided with a username and password for access, with instructions on how to use the system, including adding funds to your child’s account so they have funds for the start of the new term. 

The account can be topped-up by credit or debit card using the secure online payment system. Students can also pay in cash at a PayPoint in school, but this can get busy.

Unfortunately, the school is not able to provide credit/overdraft facilities for students. If your child has insufficient funds on their account please provide a packed lunch for them to bring to school. The school’s policy is that we would never allow a child to go hungry and will always endeavour in an emergency situation to provide a meal; in this instance you should call 01244 257088 or enquiries@qphs.co.uk 

Students eligible for free school meals automatically have their account credited each day, and they can use this allowance at lunchtime to purchase items. The system is 'invisible', so students are not aware who is claiming a free school meal. Parents can top up these accounts in the same way as any other account if they want their child to be able to spend more than the free school meal allowance.

Click here to access your ParentMail online account

FREE school meals 

Is your child eligible for free school meals?

Did you know that if you are unemployed or on benefits then you may be able to claim free school meals for your child? If your circumstances have recently changed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and you are now unemployed or receiving benefits, then we would encourage you to check if your child is eligible for this additional support.

This would not only help you: it would help the school too.

Schools are given additional funding by the Government for every child who has successfully applied for free school meals.  The more additional funding we receive, the more we can do to improve education for your child and all Queen’s Park High School students.

We are aware there are children who attend Queen’s Park High School who are entitled to free school meals but do not realise it.  We are also aware that some parents choose not to take up the entitlement to a free school meal as they do not want to risk their child being treated differently.

Please be reassured that our ‘cashless catering’ fingerprint scanners mean that no other students are aware of who receives free school meals, and who does not.

Your child would receive a £2.62 allowance per day allowing them to have a hot meal, dessert, and a drink each day. 

Even if your child does not wish to take up the free daily meal allowance, applying will mean that the school will receive the additional funding.

To check if you qualify, and to apply, please go to the following Cheshire West and Chester Council webpage:

If you have difficulties claiming online, please contact the council:
Email: benefits@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk or call Tel: 0300 123 7021 to discuss making a telephone or paper application.

If you qualify, the majority of claims are dealt with the same day and your entitlement will start the day after. A letter of entitlement will be issued to you and the council will notify the school.

If you have any queries relating to cashless catering, free school meals, ParentMail or any other finance matter, please click on the link below: