Here at Montpelier we follow the Healthy Schools guidance on healthy eating. Although we feel that many of our pupils at Montpelier have healthy packed lunch, we thought it would be helpful to remind parents of the following.

To keep packed lunches in line with the food-based standards for school meals, packed lunches should not include:

• Confectionery such as chocolate bars, chocolate-coated biscuits, sweets, cereal bars and yoghurts containing chocolate bits
• Chocolate spread or Nutella as a sandwich filling
• Cereal bars
• Any food containing nuts
• Fizzy/sugary drinks or fruit flavoured squash. This includes diet drinks and energy drinks which can contain high levels of caffeine and other additives and are not suitable for children

Occasionally the following may be included:

• Cakes and plain biscuits are allowed but children should be encouraged to eat these only as part of a balanced meal.
• Although we allow crisps, we strongly discourage parents from providing them on a daily basis as they are high in fat and high in salt.
• Many parents now provide their children with healthier alternatives such as breadsticks, plain rice cakes and plain popcorn.