Menus, dietary and free school meals information
Innovate
Innovate are delighted to partner with the students, teachers, and staff at Bassingbourn Village College from September 2022.
Our aim, along with the school, is to provide all students with an exceptional catering experience. Our very talented Executive Chef and the fantastic catering team will be serving exciting menus packed with healthy ingredients, that are full of variety, and with loads of interesting new things to try. It’s important that the food tastes as good as it looks, and we’re sure you won’t be disappointed.
What’s on the menu?
Innovate has long been considered the most inventive school caterer and that’s because we’re very clear about our food. All our dishes are prepared every day using quality, fresh and seasonal ingredients that are responsibly sourced. As well as ensuring the food on the plate is healthy, we want our customers to understand the importance of eating the right foods and help them with their food and nutrition journey. Here’s a taste of what’s to come:
A huge selection of ‘grab and go’ items including baguettes, paninis, burritos and salads to name a few, all now using our barcode system to help speed up the queues.
A variety of healthy, tasty main meals prepared fresh every day from carefully selected ingredients. The menu will follow a similar weekly pattern so you know what to expect, providing over 35 choices each day in addition to the ever popular chef specials, fortnightly themed events and loyalty schemes.
Our Street Vibes range, global street food that tours the world. It’s always changing; from Korean fried chicken, Chinese bao buns, to Greek souvlaki, there’s always something new to try!
A salad bar bursting with homemade healthy salads such as pomegranate quinoa, roasted sweet potato and rocket, or chilli, orange and beetroot. All pre-boxed and ready to be collected.
Theme days; Chinese New Year, American Drive-Thru, BBQ Beach Party, Harry Potter and Love British Food Fortnight, and many more.
What meal deals are available?
The most popular meal deal is the Blue Dot meal deal for £2.75.
Students can choose any 4 items (usually 70p each) displaying a blue dot sticker. Items include selected rolls, sandwiches, drinks, cakes and tray bakes, fruit bags, and more!
The Blue Dot meal deal is also available to students who have an FSM allowance.
I have a free school meal allowance, what can I have?
We want to ensure that all of our customers have access to a healthy nutritious meal and, with this in mind, we ask anyone with an FSM allowance to select any items up to the daily allowance of £2.50. However, we ask that this includes a hot main meal, hot wrap, baguette or other nutritious snack plus either a hot pudding, fruit pot or freshly-made cake. They can also choose to switch the pudding for a drink, if they’d prefer.
FREE SCHOOL MEALS (Daily allowance £2.50)
What is the criteria for Free School Meals / Pupil Premium?
The economic criteria are:
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- The guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit (unless you’re also entitled to Working Tax Credit, and earn no more than £16,190)
- Working Tax Credit run-on (paid for 4 weeks after you stop receiving Working Tax Credit)
- Universal Credit (provided you have an annual net earned income of no more than £7,400)
If your child meets one of the criteria below they may qualify for Pupil Premium, please discuss with us:
- been in local-authority care for 1 day or more in England or Wales
- been adopted from care in England or Wales
- left care under a special guardianship order or residence order in England or Wales
As part of their work to support families in poverty, Cambridgeshire County Council have redesigned their online form for families wishing to check their free school meal (FSM) and Pupil Premium eligibility. Significant improvements made to the online application process enable parents/carers (in most cases) to get an instant result of the outcome of their application.
With recent changes to the benefit system due to the phased roll-out of Universal Credit, families may not necessarily realise that they qualify, therefore this is a good time for parents to check their eligibility.
The form is quick and simple to complete. Once an application has been submitted for a child, if you do not qualify at that point, they will continue to check for future entitlement throughout your child’s school life, informing parents if they become eligible.
Families can access the online application at www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/freeschoolmeals.
Parents/Carers are encouraged to apply online as you will receive an instant response confirming whether you are eligible for free school meals, and you will also receive an email if further evidence is needed. The online application also saves on postage costs. If you have a child transferring to year 7 who is in receipt of FSM in primary school in Cambridgeshire or Peterborough, you do not need to reapply as all claims for FSM are rolled over to their secondary school.
If you have any queries regarding this information, please call the Education Welfare Benefits team on 01223 703200 or email ewb.fsm@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
FSM Flyer 2023 v2