Our primary school food services
We go the extra mile to ensure that a varied, considered and well-balanced diet with plenty of refreshments and healthy snacks is available to every pupil, no matter their dietary requirements and preferences.
We want food to be fun and educational, which is why we host seasonal theme days that combine fun concepts with balanced meals - see our seasonal theme day menus here.
Making menus pupils love
We actively listen to our pupils and let them lead our menu development. We believe primary school is the perfect time to start making healthy and environmentally responsible decisions; we actively encourage this by regularly changing the food options available to our pupils.
We offer three delicious options every lunchtime to foster greater engagement with new tastes and ingredients. Each dish contains at least two portions of fresh fruit and vegetables, one carbohydrate source and one form of protein.
Inspiring pupils through tasty food
Some of our most recent recipes, to be rolled out to schools across the UK, were designed by Chartwells Schools chefs in partnership with Allegra McEvedy MBE, presenter of CBBC’s Step Up to The Plate and Junior Bake Off. Together, they have kept nutrition and great taste at the core of each recipe, to create meals that are super delicious and super healthy.
Throughout each year, we help primary schools find ways to keep food interesting for their pupils. For example, one of our initiatives is to provide a calendar of menus that tie in with key dates across the year. From Pancake Day in February to a World Ocean Day menu in June, we engage children with new menus and associate nutritious food with fun.
Food innovation
We're always looking for ways to innovative and improve our school food services for the better. Through digital innovation, such as pre-ordering systems, we've made our food service offerings as efficient and cost-effective as possible. We also created our Chartwells Virtual Classroom, allowing us to make engaging and interactive education accessible to every student remotely.
Caring for pupils & planet
We believe that food should inspire primary school pupils to care about our planet. That's why we promote planet-friendly behaviours, such as eating seasonal, sustainable food and reducing food waste in schools by hosting workshops through Beyond The Chartwells Kitchen.
Food and safety allergens
At Chartwells Schools, we don’t feed some children — we feed all children, regardless of their dietary requirements. In collaboration with our registered nutritionists, we’re proud to prepare medical diet menus that look and taste as similar as possible to our main mealtime offerings, while still catering beyond the 14 main allergens.
As part of our commitment to ensuring that as many children as possible can enjoy school meals safely, we also follow an industry-leading allergens process and ensure full compliance with Natasha’s Law.
We pride ourselves on our thorough approach to food safety and allergens, but don’t just take our word for it: here’s one of our Chartwells Schools parents who has gone through the process with us so that her son, who suffers from multiple allergies, can enjoy our tasty school meals.
Talk to our business development team
Whether you’d like to discuss how our school and education catering experiences could inspire your pupils or students, or you’re interested in partnering with our brilliant teams across the UK, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We’re always happy to help! For all other enquiries, please visit our other enquiries page.
Email: enquiries@chartwells.co.uk
Phone: 0800 917 6818