School Dinners
WELCOME TO MELLORS CATERING SERVICES
Mellors Catering Services, an award-winning family business, was established back in 1840 as a local bakery, and is now the first choice contract caterer in the north for staff restaurants, schools and colleges.
We offer a bespoke service that is unrivalled. We develop tailored menus to meet the tastes and dietary requirements of your consumers and look after all aspects of your on-site catering allowing you to focus on your core activities.
We operate more than 350 catering contracts in education and business sites across the North of England so we must be doing something right!
Mellors Catering Services is committed to delivering an exciting choice of food that doesn’t cost the earth. We use only the finest, freshest ingredients from local suppliers which means better quality food.
Our team of dedicated Area Managers, Area Support and Group Managers are all foodies at heart. Their truly personal and local support means that all our sites get the level of support they need at all times.
All of our clients and consumers are also served by our innovative and creative Food Development team, headed up by our Head Nutritionist Danielle and a team of Executive Chefs. They continually develop the quality of service and food on-site, ensuring all our recipes are nutritious, exciting and compliant.
The cost of a school dinner is £3.00 per day.
Please see handout here about Natasha’s Law – A Parent’s Guide to Allergen Rules and Requirements
Free School Meals
Parents claiming some benefits can claim free school meals for any of their children who are registered at a Staffordshire school and who would normally be at school at lunch time. School meals are a good way to ensure that your child eats well at lunchtime, and you can save yourself time and money.
Even if you don’t want your children to have the meals, claiming them helps their school. The more eligible parents who claim meals, the more funding the school receives.
From the start of academic year 2026 to 2027, all children in households receiving Universal Credit will be entitled to free school meals, regardless of earnings.
Going forward, there will be two types of eligibility:
- Targeted FSM: for households in receipt of universal credit earning £7,400 or less (includes free meals and additional support such as pupil premium). Other educational entitlements such as the Holiday Activities and Food program (HAF) and the ‘extended rights’ element of school travel assistance, will also continue to be based on targeted FSM.
- Expanded FSM: for households in receipt of universal credit earning above £7,400 (free meals only).
- Families with no recourse to public funds may also be eligible for Targeted FSM subject to meeting separate criteria.
Universal Free School Meals for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2
Your child will already receive Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) regardless of your income. However, you should still apply for benefits-based FSM if you receive Universal Credit, because the application records their eligibility and can provide the school with additional funding called Pupil Premium which is used to help raise achievement levels.
Each school will decide how to spend the funding and are required to publish details of what they have spent it on and the impact it has had. So that schools (and pupils) can continue to benefit from this extra funding it is important that parents who do meet the entitlement criteria continue to register their claim with the council.
You normally need your National Insurance number and date of birth when applying. Staffordshire County Council checks eligibility electronically.
After completing an application you can print a copy of the confirmation page to give to the school for meals to start immediately. If you are unable to print you can still make your application online, but will need to wait for us to advise the school before you can start to receive the free school meals.