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Catering / Free School Meals
The Lighthouse
The Lighthouse is a clean, bright and fresh environment for the students to enjoy their break times in. We have great facilities on site including a new sound system which plays music through the lighthouse during meal service times.
We do ask that all the students help keep the Lighthouse pleasant for everyone by ensuring they clear their rubbish away into the bins and return plates to the trolleys when they have finished their meals.
We offer ‘meal deals’ on both sit down meals and Grab’n’Go items and we regularly run theme days where students get the chance to try foods from different regions. They may even get to see the catering team in fancy dress!
We all know breakfast is the most important meal of the day – so every school day we run a breakfast club from 8am until morning registration begins. Serving a selection of hot and cold foods.
We currently hold a 5* hygiene rating from the local council and the food standards agency’s ‘scores on the doors’ scheme.
You can see our menu at the bottom of this page.
Cashless Catering via ParentPay
We run a cashless catering system via ParentPay so there is no need to bring cash onto the school site. This de-stigmatises and provides anonymity to free school meal students, reduces queueing times and enables us to provide rewards for healthy eating.
Every student is issued with a school ID card which they need every time you want to use the catering services and when it comes to taking your exams. We have set a £5.00 spend limit on every student account, this limit enables the parents to control the student spend. Parents are able to set their own spend limits by putting a request in writing to the school. Replacement cards are available at £1.00 each available via ParentPay, which you can access here:
Free School Meals
Changes to Free School Meals / Could you apply?
Although a large percentage of our students are already receiving their Free School Meals allowance we wanted to ensure that all parents were aware of the criteria to apply and potentially others could start to receive this during their time at Harwich and Dovercourt High School. A child will be entitled to Free School Meals when their parents (or the child) is receiving one of the following benefits: Income support, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance.
There are also some changes to Free School Meals from 1st April 2025 that we want all of our parents to be aware of. Currently all existing or new Free School Meals claimants continue to receive Free School Meals for 6 years or until the end of their current school phase (primary or secondary), regardless of any changes to their eligibility criteria . This is known as Ever6 FSM. However from the 1st April 2025 this is coming to an end and for all new applications after the 1st April 2025 will continuously be based on eligibility. As soon as parents no longer meet the eligibility criteria the Free School Meal allowance will stop. If parents feel they meet the criteria again in the future you would need to reapply and then you will only receive the allowance while meeting the criteria.
Therefore if you are already receiving or applying and are granted Free School Meals before the 31st March 2025 your child will receive them until the end of their time at Harwich and Dovercourt High School even if your financial situation changes and you no longer meet criteria.
This is the full Department of Education guidance: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65fdad5965ca2f00117da947/Free_school_meals.pdf
Any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact our Data Team who will be able to support you.
Kind regards,
Charly Doyle
Deputy Headteacher
ECC Free School Meals Application Form