Menus

Our contract caters are called Chartwells. Please click on the link below to view the weekly menus currently on offer to students at break and lunch from October half term 2023 until Easter 2024:

Food Hall Menu Chartwells Autumn Term 2023

Every day, students can choose from hot main meals, jacket potatoes with toppings, pizzas, pasta dishes, salads, subs, sandwiches and hot snacks Home bakes are made fresh every day such as flapjacks, cakes and cookies.

Meal Deals are available at lunch and are priced at £2.53 and a range of snacks, drinks and squashes are on sale and are individually priced. The daily allowance for children eligible for a Free School Meal is £2.53 a day.*

*On 6 November 2023, the cost of a meal deal and the daily allowance for children eligible for Free School Meals will increase to £2.65 a day.

Food Hygiene

We are proud to confirm that Westbourne Academy Food Hall is consistently awarded a ‘5-star’ rating from Ipswich Borough Council and the Food Standards Agency.

Cashless Catering at Westbourne

We operate a completely cashless catering system at Westbourne Academy –

Online Payments

Parents can use School Money or PayPoint, to pay money online into the child’s cashless catering account.

Full details of how to pay online using School Money is shown here

The Restaurant

Our catering facility was completely re-built and refurbished in September 2013.  It has made an enormous difference to the well-being of our students and staff.  Placed at the heart of the academy for the first time, it provides us with a welcoming, warm, bright social space for students. Students also have the use of a covered outdoor seating area to enjoy with their friends. Students and staff can use the Restaurant before school, at break and at lunch.  Also, and most importantly, it provides a range of fantastic hot and cold food at excellent prices.

Our food hall was ahead of the game as far as the Government’s School Food Plan is concerned. For more details follow the link: http://www.schoolfoodplan.com/

In July 2013, the Department for Education introduced new ‘School Food Standards’, which aimed to ensure all schools provide a healthy and balanced menu for all students. Find out the full details of the School Food Standards.  

Westbourne Academy have stated the following:

  • Westbourne Academy is committed to the School Food Standards.
  • We believe that these standards are an important factor for our student’s health and wellbeing.
  • Working with Chartwell, we will ensure that all our menus comply with the School Food Standards, and will ensure that the products sold to our students, staff and visitors are as healthy and nourishing as possible.

Eat Well

For help and guidance on how to get the right balance of healthier food visit the
British Nutrition Foundation website.

Click on the image below to see the guide at full size:

Contact the Catering Team

To contact the Catering Team Manager directly please email:

wes-cashless.catering@attrust.org.uk

As part of the aim to improve the health of our students and staff we also support the nationwide movement Change for Life which aims to help the UK to eat well, move more, and live longer.

School Food Policy

We have worked with our students, parents and other stakeholders in developing a whole school food policy, which has the aims:

– To ensure that all aspects of food and nutrition in school promote the health and wellbeing of pupils, staff and visitors to our school.

– To give our students the right information they need to make healthy choices

– To ensure we give consistent messages about food and health across the school day

– To ensure the food and drink available across the school day reinforces the healthy lifestyle message

Packed Lunches

We encourage our students to use the Food Hall facilities if possible but recognise that some prefer to bring in packed lunches. Packed lunches can be healthy and nutritious but this can take some planning and thought.

Below are some ideas for packed lunches, which help to provide a well-balanced diet for growing children, and some advice to encourage teenagers to eat healthily.

Packed lunch ideas;
Tips for teens
Small portion of tuna and sweetcorn salad
Currant bun
Apple
Bottle of flavoured milk with less than 5% sugar

Gather nutritional information from lots of sources and focus on the special nutritional needs of growing teenagers

If your teen is using their money to buy food outside school work out how much they are spending weekly and monthly. You will all be surprised at how it adds up. Emphasise how much sooner they could buy that new iPod they’ve had their eye on if they stayed for school lunch (which is better value for money) or had a packed lunch.

Small slice of pizza with ham and pineapple
Pot of low fat yoghurt
4 cherry tomatoes
Bottle of fizzy water

Teens just like adults are on the go – especially at school. They want to eat what they can get their hands on quickly and is easy to consume, so make lunches to eat whilst on the go.

Ask your teenager what she or he likes to eat. Respect personal food choices such as vegetarianism and taste.

Peanut butter bagel
A cereal bar
A peach
Yoghurt drink
Look at magazines, newspapers, cookbooks and web sites for lunch ideas that meet your teenager’s needs and preferences, as well as nutritional standards.
Cheese salad sandwich on wholemeal bread
Cereal bar
Medium tomato
A plum
Carton of unsweetened apple juice
Consider “wraps”, salads, pizzas and pizza-like foods and rice bowls, which are both portable and proven teen pleasers.
Low fat sausage sandwich on white crusty bread with tomato ketchup and onion.
Low fat yoghurt with crunchy pieces
A peach
Carton of unsweetened fruit juice

Learn how to make easy international foods such as sushi, cous cous, and spring rolls, which can be novel and fun.

Smoothies and shakes are delicious, different, trendy and power-packed with nutrients. Variety should be a priority. Teens get tired of the same old thing every day.

We would also recommend looking for other ideas … try these for example:

The NHS School Packed Lunch advice page

Netbox lunchbox ideas