Transition Tips Week 5

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

• Complete the survey at: https://bit.ly/OPGS_NEWY720-21
• At OPGS we have a pre-paid system for paying for their lunches and snacks in the school canteen. Could your son be responsible for this? 
• During this time at home (or perhaps over the summer holidays if he is back at school this week) could you set up a similar system for him to pay for snacks/lunches? Allocate a certain amount per day, put prices on the snacks and drinks in your cupboards or fridges so that your son has to ‘pay’ for them out of his daily budget. 
• This will help him to get used to budgeting and perhaps prevent constant snacking! 
• Is your son able to plan for healthy options? – there are some discussion prompts in the student activity that you may like to chat with him about once he has done the activity.

Pupil Activity

Activity: Eating Healthily/Managing your Money

• Activity on p15-16
• Is it easy/difficult to keep to a budget?
• Do you choose healthy or unhealthy items? 
• Your parents/carers may also be suggesting a daily/weekly budget for you to purchase items at home