School Meals & Allergy Information
At Kingstone Academy Trust our catering is provided by Miquill Catering. All food is cooked fresh on site in our well-equipped modern canteen.
Packed lunches and break time snacks may be brought to school and eaten in the Canteen.
Students eligible for free school meals receive a credit to the value of £2.85 per day on the cashless catering system. The Free School Meal funding is only available to be spent at lunchtime; it is not available to spend at break times. Parents may also add additional funds to the child’s account via ParentPay. Pupils with Free Meal Entitlements remain anonymous at all times as all account types are accessed in the exact same manner regardless as to whether paid for directly or not.
Important - FREE SCHOOL MEALS DURING HOLIDAYS
Due to central government policy changes, May half term 2026 is the final time the free school meal food vouchers will be available for families. The scheme has been replaced from 1 April 2026 by the government’s Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) to support families who have experienced a financial shock resulting in a sudden loss of income. For more information on the CRF, please visit the Council’s CRF webpage.
Some families can also access support through the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme over the summer holidays, which offers up to 20 activities per child and includes a free meal for every child who attends. The booking system for the summer holidays will be available from Wednesday 1 July 2026 on the Council’s Talk Community Directory.
Free information and signposting is also available to Herefordshire residents who are experiencing financial difficulties through the Talk Community ‘Money on Your Mind’ website www.talkcommunity.co.uk/money-on-your-mind
Free School Meals
From the start of the 2026/27 school year, the Department for Education will introduce new eligibility criteria meaning that all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit will be entitled to receive Free School Meals.
Transitional protection from primary to secondary school will also end at the end of the 2025/26 academic year. This means that all children that are currently entitled to free school meals must apply or be rechecked to ensure they are still eligible for 1 September 2026. All families who are not currently entitled to free school meals should apply, as they may qualify under the expanded criteria.
From 1 September 2026, there will be two categories of free school meal eligibility:
Targeted Free School Meals
The Criteria: Children in households receiving Universal Credit with annual earnings of £7,400 or less.
Added Benefits: These pupils will attract Pupil Premium and other disadvantaged funding. Other entitlements, such as the holiday activities and food programme (HAF) and the ‘extended rights’ element of school travel assistance, will also be based on this category.
Expanded Free School Meals
The Criteria: Children in households receiving Universal Credit with annual earnings above £7,400.
The Entitlement: These pupils will be entitled to free school meals only and will not attract Pupil Premium.
If you think you may be eligible for free school meals at any time, please let us know, you can obtain a form from school or from our website, which you can fill in and we will apply for you or apply via Herefordshire Council https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/freeschoolmeals
If you are not sure please ask for assistance from the school office.
Please download a copy of the Free School Meals Application Form.