All of our meals are freshly prepared on a daily basis. It is our aim to ensure that all students can choose from a wide range of healthy, tasty and nutritious meals and products.

Please note: Our school endeavours as far as possible to be a nut-free school, this includes sesame seeds.  However, Please note some products we use do say “May contain nuts & sesame seeds ” “Manufactured in a facility that uses peanut ingredients” “Manufactured in a facility which processes peanuts. 

We have quite a number of students in school who have severe nut allergies and can be seriously affected by someone else who is eating or may have recently eaten nuts.  Please encourage your child to understand that eating a nut product (including items such as peanut butter sandwiches and Nutella bars) can have a serious effect on a student later on in the classroom. 

If your child has a food allergy or special diet, please complete a Food Allergen/Special Diet Form (PDF) Printed copies of the form are also available from the school office. If your child would normally have a packed lunch we would still like this form to be completed for our records. Please also speak to your child and advise them to inform the catering staff of their dietary needs at the servery. Please see the section below for more information on Food Allergies or Special Diets.

At QEHS we like to offer students a more flexible and informal service, including:

  • A ‘grab and go’ provision for students who do sports and other activities on a lunchtime.
  • A pre-order system which means less queuing at lunchtime. Students can pre-order their lunch at breakfast or morning break and it will be ready for collection at lunchtime.
  • Vending machines located in the main school to purchase a variety of food and drinks throughout the day and for after-school activities.

Mid-morning Break: 11.15am to 11.30am

During break time a wide range of food and drink is available including the breakfast items mentioned above, sandwiches and wraps, fresh fruit and yoghurt, and a selection of juices and flavoured water. Hot drinks are available from the vending machines.

Lunchtime Service 12.30pm to 1.20pm

We offer a varied healthy menu including a two-course set meal of the day for £2.65, a meal deal offer, and individually priced menu items including:

  • Daily specials
  • Filled jacket potatoes
  • Paninis and pizza
  • Hot wraps
  • Pasta pots with a selection of sauces
  • Curry pots with a selection of sauces and mini naan bread
  • Fresh soups
  • Selection of sandwiches with a variety of fillings
  • Salad bowls
  • Hot and cold desserts plus fruit pots, yoghurts, fresh fruit
  • Home baked items, i.e., scones, flapjack
  • Selection of fruit juices, milk, milkshakes, smoothies, water and flavoured water

Our menu is produced in line with the Government’s new food standards. For those students who bring a packed lunch to school we ask parents to refrain from including confectionery, crisps or fizzy drinks.

Our three-week menu is available to view: QEHS Menu (PDF)

Please note: Our school endeavours as far as possible to be a nut-free school, this includes sesame seeds.  However, Please note some products we use do say “May contain nuts & sesame seeds ” “Manufactured in a facility that uses peanut ingredients” “Manufactured in a facility which processes peanuts. 

We have quite a number of students in school who have severe nut allergies and can be seriously affected by someone else who is eating or may have recently eaten nuts.  Please encourage your child to understand that eating a nut product (including items such as peanut butter sandwiches and Nutella bars) can have a serious effect on a student later on in the classroom. 

If your child has a food allergy or special diet, please complete a Food Allergen/Special Diet Form (PDF).

Printed copies of the form are also available from the school office. If your child would normally have a packed lunch we would still like this form to be completed for our records. Please also speak to your child and advise them to inform the catering staff of their dietary needs at the servery. 

We will do our utmost to provide a meal for pupils with special dietary requirements. Please note it is recommended that parents/carers supply a medical/dietitian letter to support the special diet requirements as self-diagnosed or personal food preferences are not able to be accommodated. 

Please note: We cannot guarantee the absence of any specific allergen. Our team will be happy to talk to you about what we do in the kitchen to reduce the risks of allergen cross-contamination. Some of the ingredients used do not contain the allergen, however, some of the products we use may state that the product “may contain the allergen”,” be manufactured in a facility that produces the food allergen” 

The above applies to the allergens listed below:

Celery, cereals containing gluten (such as wheat, barley and oats), crustaceans (such as prawns, crabs and lobsters), eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs (such as mussels and oysters), mustard, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, sulphur dioxide and sulphites

Please contact the school kitchen on 01434 610330 to discuss your child’s dietary needs with the Catering manager.

The school operates a biometric cashless school meals system. The biometric system is based on fingertip recognition technology. Every student is issued with an account which allows them to buy food and drink at morning break and lunchtime using their fingertip or pin number.

All payments should be made online via My Child at School app/website, which also provides information on school meal balances and purchases. My Child at School also enables you to view school meal balances and purchases and top up school meals money at any time. Download the app: If you have a smartphone, please download My Child at School from your app store (Android and iPhone). You will be able to check the balance, top up the account and see that the money has been added to your child’s school meals account under the ‘Dinner’ icon/panel.

A daily spend limit can be applied to a student’s account; if you would like further information on this please contact our Catering Manager via Reception.

Getting started on My Child at School

Either visit the My Child at School website or download the app

If you have changed your email or mobile phone number please contact the admin@qehs.net and they will update your records to enable you to log in to My Child at School.

  • To start, click on the Reset Password link
  • On the next screen, enter your email address and tick the I’m not a robot box
  • Click the Send Reset Email button
  • You will receive an email from My Child at School. Click on the Reset link inside this email
  • You will then be asked to Reset your Password
  • Follow the instructions to Confirm and Update
  • You will now be able to log in.

Online Payments

On the My Child at School website …

  1. In the Dinner Money panel, enter the amount you would like to add and click Add to Basket
  2. At the top of the screen, the shopping cart will indicate there is an item to checkout
  3. Click the shopping cart icon and then click Checkout on the pop-up message
  4. On the next screen, click Checkout
  5. Enter your Address
  6. Tick ‘Save card details for quick payments in future’ if preferred
  7. Click Confirm and Pay
  8. Enter card details if not already saved
  9. Click Make Payment.

On the  My Child at School App…

  • Select the Dinner icon
  • Select Add Dinner Money
  • Enter the amount and select Add to Basket
  • Select Checkout
  • Pay By Card is selected (tick Save information for future payments if you would like to save your card details)
  • Enter your address
  • Select Next
  • Enter your card details and Make Payment.

If it is not possible for you to use the My Child at School website or app, please contact the Finance Office on finance@qehs.net and we will arrange for you to be sent a PayPoint barcode voucher to enable you to make payment at one of the many PayPoint terminals sited in shops in the local area.

Account Balance

Students’ accounts should maintain a credit balance at all times. We will endeavour to notify students if their balance is low or the account has insufficient funds. Contact will be made with parents/carers via My Child at School where insufficient funds are available or there is money owing on the student’s account. You can also check the balance on the My Child at School app.

If a student’s account is more than -£3.00, a catering member of staff will ask the student to obtain a lunch slip from a member of the Student Support team to authorise the increase in debt. The student will be informed by the kitchen that the food will be kept until they return, and they are to come to the front of the queue so as not to lose any further time. Please be reassured that a student is never refused lunch.

Crediting an account and account balance

We kindly ask that you keep your child’s account in credit. The balance can be accessed through the My Child at School app. You will be able to check the balance, top up the account and see that any payments made have been credited to your child’s school meals account by selecting the Dinner icon/panel.

Daily spend limit 

If you wish to have a daily spend limit applied or change a daily spend limit on your child’s account, please contact our Catering Manager jsatow@qehs.net. Unfortunately, the My Child at School app does not allow you to change the daily spend limit. This facility is accessed through the school cashless system by the Catering Manager.

Refunds and transferring balance

Balances below £5.00 cannot be refunded. Account balances can be viewed at any time on the My child at school app or website. Where possible, parents/carers are expected to wind down school meal account balances if their child is leaving school.

Balances can either be transferred to another child’s account or refunded. Refunds will be processed via BACS payment to a nominated bank account.

Note: Bank account details are encrypted and won’t be included in any email communication.

The refund process usually takes between 10-14 days (term time).

If you require a refund for more than one child, please fill in a separate form for each of them.

If you require a refund, please fill in the form in the link below:

If you have any queries, please email jsatow@qehs.net or telephone 01434 610330.

If a student is in receipt of free school meals the monetary value of £3.20 per day is automatically added to their account, and students can be assured of total anonymity with the system. Students need to manage their FSM allowance across morning break and lunchtime. We recommend they spend no more than £1 at morning break if they wish to buy a main course at lunchtime for £2.65, otherwise, they will only be able to buy snack items such as flapjack, rice cakes, fresh fruit pot, yoghurt & drinks, unless additional money has been credited to your child’s account. If you wish your child to spend above the free school meal allowance please credit their account through MCAS. Any items purchased on the account are initially taken from the FSM allowance, up to the value of £3.20 per day. Anything above £3.20 is then charged to the account.

Please note: if students choose to use most of their allowance at break time they will be left with very little to spend at lunchtime and they will not be able to buy a main course unless they have additional money on their account to cover the cost of the meal.

Spend limits can be applied to your child’s account
If you wish to have a spend limit applied to your child’s account please contact the Catering Manager, email jsatow@qehs.net or telephone 01434 610330.

This may be required if:

  • you do not want your child to spend above the free school meal allowance
  • you would like to limit the allowance so that it can only be used at lunchtime to ensure your child gets a meal every day.
  • you wish to credit your child’s account to allow them to spend above the FSM allowance you may also wish to set a daily limit e.g. £4.20. This would be the £3.20 FSM allowance and £1.00 cash to spend each day.

If you apply a daily spend limit it would be advisable to let your child know that they have a daily spend limit to avoid confusion at the till. Unspent free school meal money cannot be carried forward to the next day.

If you think you may be eligible for free school meal an application can be made via the Northumberland County Council`s Citizen Portal.

Parents who already have their own log-in can sign in and make a free school meals application. New applicants must first register on the Portal before they can access the free school meals application.

Certain data will be held on the system to enable accurate operation. This will include the student’s name, registration group, photo, account balance and meal entitlement. This data is handled under the guidelines of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and only used by parties directly involved with the implementation of the system.