Packed Lunch Guidance

Guidance to parents on ‘Packed Lunches’

We aim to ensure all aspects of food and nutrition at St. Luke’s CE Primary School promote the health and wellbeing of the children.

Parents are advised to include a small, named ice pack if food is likely to spoil.

Children are not allowed to swap or share their food from lunch boxes.

In addition, we request parents not to include the following:

  • Sweets
  • Food containing nuts (some children in preschool have an allergy reaction to any contact with nuts.)
  • Fizzy/sugary drinks

Eating Environment

The preschool will provide a safe, calm and healthy eating environment for children having a packed lunch. We do this by:

  • Ensuring all children wash their hands before their meal
  • Encouraging children to eat all or try to eat most of the food provided in their lunch box.
  • Making sure children have the time to eat their lunch and do not rush, whilst, recognising that children also need time to play.
  • Asking children to take leftovers from lunchboxes home to enable parents to see what their child has eaten.
  • Providing fresh water for every child.

Packed Lunches

We would like lunch boxes to reflect a healthy balanced meal. There are currently no government regulations regarding the contents of children’s packed lunches. However the British Nutrition Foundation produced a set of guidelines recommending what should be included in lunch boxes to provide them with a healthy meal.

The recommended contents of a healthy lunch box are:

  • A good portion of starchy food e.g. wholegrain roll, thick slice of bread, pitta pocket, plain cracker, pasta or rice salad.
  • Plenty of fruit and vegetables e.g. an apple, satsuma, handful of cherry tomatoes or carrot sticks, mini can of fruit chunks (decanted into a plastic container), small box of raisins
  • A portion of milk or dairy food e.g. individual cheese portion, pot of yogurt.
  • A small portion of lean meat, fish or alternative e.g. 2 slices of ham, quorn, cheese, tuna, egg or hummus.
  • A drink e.g. small carton of fruit juice, no added sugar fruit squash. Water is provided.
  • One small packet of crisps, a fruit scone or portion of malt loaf, a small cake or biscuit may also be included (please avoid chocolate as much as possible).

Nut and egg allergy

We would like to remind you that we have pupils in school with severe nut allergies and egg allergies.
Children who suffer from these allergies can develop a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction.
First aid staff in the school are trained to use the autoinjector pens which administer an injection of adrenalin. This is required immediately if an allergic reaction happens.
For the safety of these pupils, we would ask that you do not send nut-based products or whole eggs to school in packed lunches or as break time snacks.
Potential allergens could include the following:
  • Peanut butter on sandwiches/crackers etc.
  • Spreads that may contain nuts eg. chocolate/nut spread
  • Condiments, e.g. satay sauce (peanut based sauce)
  • Snack pots containing whole/part nuts
  • Cakes that contain nuts
  • Biscuits / Cookies that contain nuts
  • Peanut butter cakes
  • Egg Mayonnaise sandwiches
  • Hard boiled eggs
It is important that you check the labelling of food products before sending your child in to school with them – it is not always apparent that products contain nuts.
We also ask that, if your child consumes any nut-based products or whole eggs before school, they wash their hands thoroughly before entering the school. If someone has a nut or whole egg allergy it is not just eating these things that can cause a severe reaction, being touched on the skin by a person who has touched a nut product or eggs can trigger anaphylactic shock (which causes breathing and swallowing difficulties).
We want to ensure the health and safety of all our pupils.