Lunchtime information

Lunchtimes at Brightside take place between 11.50am -12.50pm for our reception children and from 12.15pm-1.15pm for pupils in year 1 and year 2.

At Brightside we aim to make sure all children enjoy a happy, active, healthy lunchtime. In February 2025 Brightside Nursery Infant School achieved the Silver Food For Life Award and the school is currently working towards the Gold Award!

Our playground offers different zoned activities for the children to participate in every day.  It also provides calm areas where children can sit, talk with a friend or read a book. Our school hall provides the space for children to enjoy a hot or cold, healthy meal with their peers.

Families can choose to provide their child with a healthy packed lunch or take the opportunity to have a free, healthy lunch provided by Taylor Shaw. 

Taylor Shaw are proud to serve a variety of freshly made school meals each day on site which is free of charge for all school aged children. They have become one of the UK’s leading specialist caterers in the primary education sector, using fresh and local produce to build a positive food culture amongst pupils, including fun theme days and food education events to contribute to the welfare of the young people in their learning environment. 

With quality and well-being at the heart of the service, Taylor Shaw are committed to providing pupils with an exciting menu, tailored to the palettes and dietary requirements of our pupils. From field to fork, the menu available at school offers innovative yet responsibly sourced, seasonal ingredients from local suppliers with support from Taylor Shaw’s creative food development team.

At Brightside, our pupils are served by our dedicated catering team, Dawn, Louise and Gemma.  They are passionate food-lovers that pride themselves on a truly personal service that is compliant and nutritious.  The foods they prepare are backed by a team of Taylor Shaw dieticians, Gemma Ewen, Hannah Allan and Hannah Dobson.

Each day Dawn, Louise and Gemma provide (free of charge):
 a hot lunch
 a vegetarian lunch
 jacket potato with a choice of fillings
 a range of sandwiches
 a salad bar is also provided for children to help themselves to
 a yummy dessert or fresh fruit
They also cater for children who require a specialist diet if this is supported by a health/medical practitioner.

Please see the current menu here

For the children who bring a packed lunch, we encourage them to bring a healthy, nutritious, balanced lunch which contains fruit and healthy snacks. Unfortunately we cannot allow any carbonated, high sugar drinks or fruit juice because of the high sugar content in these drinks.  

Please remember Brightside is a ‘Nut Free’ school - due to a number of children having nut allergies and the safety risks through cross contamination.
We also encourage children and staff to drink as much water as possible throughout the day to help keep them hydrated and to support brain function while learning. 

Knife and Fork Challenge

Children in school who feel confident using cultery support each other to learn to use a knife and fork. All lunchtime staff and Taylor Shaw staff promote this too, modelling how to use cultery correctly and guiding children to do this independently. Please help by encouraging your child(ren) to use a knife and fork at home too.

Thank you.

Lunchtime games mentors

Our Lunchtime Supervisors support our year 2 children to be games mentors for the younger children, showing them how to play safely and how to play different games. The Lunchtime Supervisors choose 4 children each half term to take on this role and guide them to be good role models.