School meals

All Highland Council schools follow the new school food guidelines set by the Scottish Government which came into effect from 8 April 2021. A summary of these can be viewed in the school menus section.

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Free school meals for Primary 1 to 5

Our catering service is proud to provide good value meals using quality ingredients carefully sourced.

The following regularly appear on our menus:

  • Beef, pork, lamb from farm assured sources within Scotland
  • Processed pork products from farm assured sources within the UK
  • UK Red Tractor Chicken products in all our primary schools
  • Highland free range eggs
  • Local fruit and vegetables from Swansons Fruit Company, Inverness. Swansons source locally produced fruit and vegetables from the Highland region when it is available and in season.
  • Schools growing their own fruit and vegetables are encouraged to include this as part of their lunch provision.

We currently serve 18,000 lunches per day in 173 primary schools and 29 secondary schools. We update our menus every 12 months in January and consult with pupils and staff to improve the food choices and recipes. The menus offer a choice of freshly cooked, nutritionally balanced meals and include favourites such as macaroni cheese, fish and chips, chicken korma and healthy home baking.

 

School meals for Primary 6 and 7 are £2.40 and Secondary meals are £2.65.  School meals for children in Early Years and Primary 1 to 5 are free.

 

We offer seasonal meals where over 75 percent of the menu is freshly prepared with ingredients that are GM free, with no undesirable E-numbers or hydrogenated fats.

 

All our primary schools and early years & childcare settings have been awarded the bronze Food for Life Served Here award (FFLSH) from the Soil Association. 

 

Apply for free school meals

Special diets and nutrition

If your child needs a special diet for school meals, further information is available on our special diets webpage.