School Meals

We have three catering points at Loreto College St Albans – a large canteen, situated in our Main Building, a grab and go service at our smaller Picnic Basket – the installation of which was generously funded by our Parents Association, as well as an exclusive offer for Years 12 and 13 in The Elms Sixth Form Centre.

Since February 2023, our catering services have been provided by Cucina. Please see an introduction to their business as well as their menu and tariff chart below.

In order to ensure all students, have access to a healthy breakfast, Cucina serve free porridge to all students who wish to eat it before school.

Cucina is an entirely food-led business. That may sound obvious from a caterer, but we’re not a typical education caterer. We are a proudly chef-led business, meaning we have the skills to make all of our food on site and from scratch. We use a range of local and national suppliers from which all fish is MSC certified, all coffee is Fairtrade, all eggs and mayonnaise are free-range, 90% of our fruit and vegetables are grown in the UK and the vast majority of our meat is Red Tractor accredited. Unless it’s responsible, you won’t find it in our kitchens. Our menus are full of goodness and nutrition and we love educating students that healthy food is delicious, through a wide variety of tasty dishes that students love to eat.

We have a huge variety of really exciting dishes to try. We’re talking about global street food, our famous handmade pizzas, modern vegetarian and vegan, and traditional fish and chips. There’s something for everyone to enjoy at all times of the day.

As part of creating a positive social impact, we are committed to looking after our environment. To do that we get our schools and students involved and work tirelessly to make improvements every day; reducing food miles and packaging, improving the packaging we do use, offering Generation Juice in recyclable bottles and Fairtrade coffee in paper or reusable cups, composting kitchen waste, creating gardens and growing herbs with students. Our vision and values are entirely aligned to working with Loreto College to create a positive food culture and helping more students eat better food.

Food Tariffs

Menus

cucina july 2024 .pdf

Canteen Payments

The canteen operates a cashless biometric system. This means that rather than paying for their food with cash, each pupil places their finger onto a machine which then transfers payment from their account to the canteen. At the start of Year 7 each pupil registers their fingerprint and this creates a code which is unique to them.

As part of this system, the pupil and/or their parent/carer must make sure there is always some money in their canteen account. Accounts are topped up online using the ParentPay system.

If a pupil forgets their lunch, or does not have enough money to buy it, they should go to the Bursar’s /Finance office. Pupils entitled to free school meals have their allowance automatically topped up every day, and they can add further funds to this if they wish.

Free School Meals

If you would like to find out whether your family is eligible for free school meals please click here.

Page updated August 2023