Oakwood Park Grammar School
Oakwood Park
Maidstone
Kent
ME16 8AH
Dear Parents and Carers,
I hope everyone managed to make the most of the glorious weather last week at half term and that the boys are feeling refreshed and ready for term 6 – whatever that might look like for you all! This week’s focus is around managing a weekly budget for lunch and snacks, and making healthy food choices.
At OPGS, our school canteen offer a breakfast, breaktime and lunchtime canteen service – students will be issued with a pre-pay key fob on the first day of term which you will need to register for them on the Squid website. The Squid account allows automatic or manual top ups for the fob, and you can log into the system for an itemised list to see exactly what they have been spending their money on! The canteen will take cash from the year 7’s for the first week or so while you get sorted out with this, but then operate a cashless system, with students paying using the fob which is registered to their account, for the rest of their time in school. This is also linked to a photograph of the student, which is displayed on the canteen till, preventing them from using each other’s!
As it is not ‘real’ money that they are spending, some students can get carried away by this new found freedom in the first few weeks so we have included this activity to introduce the idea of a weekly budget and to try to get them to think about making healthy choices that fit into that budget.
More information about the Squid system can be found here: https://www.squidcard.com/
More information about our catering company, including allergy information, sample menus and some easy and healthy home cooking ideas to try out at home with your son can be found here: https://www.independentcatering.co.uk/
Finally, could I please ask you to fill in the parental notes for form tutors survey here: https://bit.ly/OPGS_NEWY720-21 This will help us to allocate form groups – including nominating students they know to be put into a form group with – and will be shared with your son’s form tutor, allowing them to make a start on getting to know your son. We will be in touch soon with more information about the transition plans we have for this term and the summer.
Activity/Tip for Parents/Carers
Activity: Eating Healthily/Managing your Money
Pupil Activity
Activity: Eating Healthily/Managing your Money