Catering & Free School Meals

We are always in the mood for good food!

We are Aspens Services, a market-leading contract catering company specialising in school food.

We only work in the education sector so we know what our customers want. Mixing this knowledge with an understanding of what’s hot in the food world sparks creativity and excitement in our chefs. Our kitchens provide delicious home-cooked food each day and cater for individual dietary requirements.

Streateries

Streateries is our secondary meal offer where every day has a theme. Featuring global cuisines, customised offers and food on the move, we are bang up to date with the current trends whilst still ensuring that there is a place on the menu for the comfort of our

Familiar school dining hall favourites. Each day the menu includes as standard a street food dish, a handheld version, vegetarian/vegan choices along with a selection of sides.

Deli Kitchen

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.

Special Diets

Special diets are an integral part of our catering provision, whether as a result of an ethical or religious belief or a food intolerance or allergy. To register any special diets as a requirement please complete and return the special diets form to the school as soon as possible.

Our Planet

We work closely with our clients and suppliers to be as environmentally friendly as we can. By making lots of small changes, we can make a big difference. We care about the future and continue to focus on responsible sourcing, using seasonal produce, increasing our focus on plant-based recipes, making our menus more sustainable, keeping waste to a minimum and reusing and recycling to reduce the impact we have.

Paying for School Meals

St Peter’s Collegiate Academy operates a cashless catering system using the Arbor Parent App.

Parents and carers can securely manage school meal payments by topping up their child’s account through Arbor. The app allows you to:

add funds quickly and safely;
view balances and track spending;
manage payments at any time.

Students simply use their account at the till, removing the need to bring cash into the academy and ensuring a smooth, efficient dining experience.

For guidance on accessing or using the Arbor Parent App, please visit our Arbor App information page or contact the academy if you require support.

Free school meals

If you think your child may be eligible for Free School Meals, we encourage you to apply. It is straightforward, confidential and, if successful, brings additional funding directly into school to support teaching and learning for all of our students.

Am I eligible?

From September 2026, eligibility for Free School Meals is changing. There are now two categories:

Targeted Free School Meals (TFSM)

Your child may qualify if your household is in receipt of Universal Credit with an annual net earned income of no more than £7,400 (£616.67 per month), or if you receive one of the following:

Income Support
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
Child Tax Credit (provided you are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross household income of no more than £16,190)
The guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
Working Tax Credit run-on, paid for four weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
Support from NASS under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999

Expanded Free School Meals (EFSM)

From September 2026, all children in households receiving Universal Credit will be entitled to a free meal, regardless of household income. This is a new category and represents a significant widening of eligibility. If you receive Universal Credit and have not previously applied, it is worth doing so now.

How to apply

To apply, please email info@stpetersacademy.org.uk, and we will direct your query to the relevant member of staff. You will need to provide:

your full name (as listed with HMRC)
your address
your date of birth
your National Insurance number or Asylum Support Reference Number

We will share your details securely with City of Wolverhampton Council, who will check your eligibility using a secure government website. If you are found eligible, we will let you know. If eligibility cannot be confirmed immediately, the system will continue to check periodically, and we will be in touch if anything changes.

You will only be asked to provide additional proof of benefit if your eligibility cannot be confirmed automatically.

If your child already has a protected Free School Meals claim in place, you do not need to apply again. If you are unsure whether a claim is in place, please contact us and we will check for you.

Even if your child does not take school meals, we would still encourage you to register. Every child registered for Free School Meals generates Pupil Premium funding for school, which is invested directly into teaching, learning and support for students.

Additional support

Alongside Targeted Free School Meals, there is further help available to Wolverhampton families through the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme. Further information can be found at www.yowolves.co.uk.

For more information about Free School Meals eligibility and support available in the city, visit www.wolverhampton.gov.uk.

Questions?

Please contact our school office and a member of the team will be happy to help.

St Peter's Collegiate Academy