Derbyshire Catering Service are proud to provide the catering service at St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy.
Derbyshire Catering Service is a national award winning service, serving school food throughout the East Midlands. We pride ourselves on our healthy, nutritious, well balanced meals which are served in around 380 education settings.
We cater for all schools regardless of size or facilities and currently feed around 50,000 pupils a day.
With over 70 years’ experience in our sector, we understand the importance of investing in the health and wellbeing of children. We want children to achieve and realise their potential.
Our menus exceed current Government School Food Standards and offer:
- freshly prepared meals
- British Farm Assured meat
- Variety across the week
- Reduced sugar recipes
- Whole grain products
- No undesirable additvies or artificial trans fats
The menus are accredited with the Food for Life Catering Mark. They are annually scrutinised to ensure they continually meet the criteria regarding provenance and preparation of the food.
How to Pay
Free School Meals
It is quick and easy to check if you are eligible for Free School Meals.
If your circumstances change, you can sign-up for free school meals at any time of the year.
For more information and the online application form go to
You can call the Derbyshire free school meals team for help and advice on 01629 536400 or 01629 536481.
Menu & Prices
Secondary schools offer cafeteria style dining faciliites, with a range of freshly prepared hot meals, jacket potatoes, salads, pasta, sandwiches and snacks. Alongside the main dinner service, most schools offer a breakfast and a morning break service. Items can be purchased individually or as part of a meal deal.
Derbyshire Catering has reviewed the cost of school meals from September 2024. The cost of a meal deal will now increase to £3.55, this covers a main meal with a side of veg/salad, bottle of water and a dessert. For £3.30, you can get a main meal with a side of veg/salad and a dessert.
The free school meal allowance for secondary students is £3.55 per day. This is automatically credited to the pupil’s account and allows them to take advantage of the £3.55 Meal Deal. Monies not used from this allowance can’t be rolled over to the next day. (Prices correct as of September 2024) Additional monies can be credited if desired.
At St Thomas More we use a cashless payment systems using either a pin biometric methods. We ask that parents and carers add funds to their child’s ParentPay account to ensure they are in credit at the start of the day.
If you require login details for your child’s ParentPay account, please contact the school office on: 01298 23167
Lunchtime Takeovers
Every month our menu is taken over for one lunch time only, you can expect to see anything from a cheeky Chicken Fake Away to Caribbean street food. Got an idea for a takeover? Let your school council know! Click here for more details.
Allergies and Specialist Diets
Derbyshire Catering Service successfully launched the new Medical Diet in Schools Application Portal in September 2024.
If your child has an allergy or specialist dietary requirement, parents and carers are requested to complete a digital medical diet application form from Derbyshire County Council.
To complete the form please click here.
If you have any queries or need any support in completing the application, please contact cs.catering@derbyshire.gov.uk
To ensure that Schools, Derbyshire Catering Service and parents or carers are aware of their responsibilities in providing meals for pupils with medical dietary requirements, we have developed the attached Medical Diet Safeguarding Standard. A copy of the document can be found below.
Medical Diet Safeguarding Standards
For more information regarding allergies and specialist diets, please click here.
As a reminder, if there are any changed to allergies or specialist and/or specialist diets and/or medical needs, please update us by contacting the school office on: 01298 23167
