Our Canteen
School Meals
From September 2026 Aspens Services Ltd will be providing MPS's catering service.
As a specialist school caterer, Aspens is dedicated to serving schools and understands the important role great food plays in the school day. Their chefs create fresh, nutritious and appealing menus inspired by current food trends. You can read more about Aspens here or by visiting their website www.aspens-services.co.uk
Menus
The school main lunch menu rotates on a three-week basis and refreshes for Autumn/Winter and Spring/Summer seasons.
You can find our new menus here:
Autumn/Winter Menu
Meal Deal Information
Mid Morning Breakfast
Blue Mountain Fruit Ice Information
Streateries is our secondary main lunch offer where every day has a theme. Featuring Global cuisines, customised offers and the comfort of our familiar school canteen favourites. Each day the menu includes a street food dish, a hand held version, vegetarian/vegan choices along with a selection of sides.
Our Deli Kitchen brand is for the popular standard Aspens hot and cold offers. This can range from Authentic Italian pizza and pasta, Hacienda Mexicana’s burritos, rice pots and sides and Voulez Poulet’s house rub chicken, dogs and sides through to our range of healthy sandwiches, paninis, wraps, jacket potatoes, salads, fruit and cold dessert pots.
Great Value
Our Meal Deal is priced at £3.00 for 3 items and includes:
The Main Lunch Meal of the day/Hot Deli Special/Jacket Potato/Pasta Pot/Just Sandwich/1/2 Baguette plus any 2 items from the below:
- Dessert of the day
- Plain Water
- Traybake
- Whole Fruit or Fruit Slice
Tariff
Allergen Safety
At MPS the safety and wellbeing of students with allergies is a priority. We are committed to creating a safe, inclusive and supportive environment where all pupils can participate fully in school life. Our approach follows the Department for Education's statutory guidance on Allergy Safety in Schools and the requirements of Natasha’s Law.
Developing independence is an important part of allergy management therefore secondary students are highly encouraged to discuss their allergen requirements with catering staff and to check allergen information regularly to help them make safe food choices.
We will support safe food choices in our school canteen by ensuring:
- There is clear allergen & ingredient labelling on all pre-packed, grab and go items (eg sandwiches, boxed salads etc) in line with Natasha’s Law.
- There is daily allergen information available at every service point. This will be in the form an accurate Allergen Matrix folder with catering staff on hand to assist students with their queries.
The Aspens Allergen Policy is linked here. If you have any further queries relating to allergens or the catering provision for students in MPS please email our Aspens Operations Manager, Keith Masson directly on keith.masson@aspens-services.com copying in the school office.
How to pay for meals?
We operate a cashless system, using Parentpay and all students pay using their fingerprint which is taken when they join the school. When an item is bought from the canteen your child’s finger is scanned and matched to the digital record. Parents must therefore ensure that your child's Parentpay account has credit on it, as they will not be able to go into debt. If you are unable to put credit onto their account, please ensure that they have a packed lunch with them.
Free School Meals
From September 2026 all children in households receiving Universal Credit will be eligible for free school meals, regardless of income. This means many more families will be able to access free school meals. If you think your child may be eligible, we strongly encourage you to register using this form.
If you have any queries about Parentpay, or if you are experiencing financial difficulty and are unable to pay for your child's lunch, please contact the office on 01737 919491, or by email; info@mersthamparkschool.org.
