What is the food like at Stonar boarding school?
Food is a popular topic for boarding school pupils and parents alike!
All meals are included in School fees and prepared and cooked from scratch to ensure they are consistently high quality.
Here’s everything you need to know about eating at Stonar, including the menus, mealtimes, and our dining areas. Discover how Stonar handles food sourcing and catering for special events. Understand how we handle allergies, rules around tuck, and links to our food policy. Our catering team and food committee are also detailed below.
What is the food menu at boarding school?
Our Executive Chef Manager, Jason Coop, changes the menu each week with input from the on-site catering team.
Our Executive Chef Jason takes advantage of produce seasonality or special offers from suppliers. This keeps the menu choices diverse and allows the catering team to be creative for special occasions, such as the Chinese New Year and the King’s Coronation.
Some regulars that pupils can expect on the menu are:
- Tuesday is ‘pasta day,’ with varying dishes on offer week-to-week to keep the menu interesting
- Pupils can expect freshly-cooked fish and chips every Thursday
- Varieties of bread, plus cakes and desserts, are baked freshly on the premises each day
The food offering is diverse, including the food groups and cuisines, eg. We will never have chicken for lunch and for dinner, or even the next day. We vary the menu to include English, Italian, Chinese, and Indian, plus Thai, Vietnamese, or Spanish dishes, encouraging pupils to try various foods.
Our School menus are published on SchoolBase, on notice boards in the boarding houses, and are emailed to pupils weekly.
What are the meals and mealtimes at Stonar?
The table below shows the times and durations of the three daily meals served to boarding pupils at our School, plus what to expect to choose from at each meal:
|
Mon-Sat Breakfast (7.45 am - 8.15 am) Continental breakfast |
Sunday Brunch (11 am - 12noon) Continental / hot cooked buffet breakfast |
Mon-Fri Lunch (12 noon - 1.45 pm) Lunch includes a hot ‘dish of the day’ / vegetarian option, served with a complementary side dish, a salad, and a pudding.> |
Mon-Sun Supper (5.30 pm - 6.30 pm) Supper includes a hot ‘dish of the day’ / vegetarian option, served with a complementary side dish, a salad, and a dessert. |
Dining is conducted in sittings, as La Cantina is too small to seat all pupils simultaneously. Boarding pupils will dine on a rota basis so that no one group is always last to eat.
Are there food weekend specials?
Yes, we have ‘Takeaway Saturdays,’ where we replicate the type of meal that families might enjoy at home. Pizza and American-themed suppers are favourites.
Sunday supper includes traditional roast meat and vegetarian option.
What are the dining areas and services?
All meals are served in the dining room, La Cantina, except on Saturday nights, when food is served in the boarding houses.
Pupils must attend all meals and eat in La Cantina. Food is not available to take away to help us manage allergies.
The salad bar is self-service, but everything else is served to pupils by La Cantina catering staff.
At weekends, pupils are permitted to order takeaway food. If pupils do so, it must be eaten in the boarding houses and has to be nut-free.
Where does Stonar source food from?
We always source food as locally and as seasonally as we can. Our main suppliers are:
- Fresh produce - Dole Produce
- Meat – British Premium Meats
Are there special food events at Stonar?
Yes, there are special food events at Stonar, we deviate from our usual menu for events such as summer parties and Christmas and Easter celebrations. Some special events are:
- Chinese New Year banquet
- National Maths Day (or Pi Day!)
- World book day
How does Stonar manage food allergies?
Our Executive Chef and Health and Well-being Team liaise regarding pupils' allergies or food intolerances at admissions. Children with allergies can always eat here and be confident they’re being served dairy and gluten-free food.
Ingredients are listed on the menus on the big TV screens in La Cantina as an extra measure.
We cater to all allergies and provide dairy and gluten-free options.
You will always find a vegetarian option and occasional vegan dishes. We aim to match the meat version where possible. For example, a meat or veggie lasagne.
Stonar is a nut-free school, including the boarding house. Please avoid bringing nuts in. We can’t guarantee a 100% nut-free environment, as traces of nuts can often be found in foods, which is a potential risk to those with severe allergies.
Milk is generally semi-skimmed cows' milk across the site, but gluten-free oat milk is also available. As we are a nut-free school, there are no nut milks available.
Is tuck allowed in the boarding school?
Yes, tuck is allowed in the boarding school, healthy (nut-free) snacks, sweets, and crisps can be brought to the boarding house from home or our on-site tuck shop. Any snacks must be kept in and fit in the tuck boxes supplied. Perishable foods must not be stored in dorms. Hot food must only be consumed in the kitchen or common room.
What is the Stonar food policy?
Our food policy covers the rules at Stonar boarding school for food and drink, including allergies, school trips, catering provision, parental responsibilities, etc.
What is the Stonar’s catering team?
Stonar’s catering team consists of executive chef manager and hospitality supervisor.
Jason Coop - Executive Chef Manager
Rebecca Poiner - Hospitality Supervisor
Is there a food committee at Stonar?
We run a Food Committee at the School, which enables representatives to share their thoughts on food options and menus with the catering team.
Our Executive Chef or Hospitality Supervisor chairs the Food Committee. The committee itself is made up of pupils representing every year of the Senior school, and there is also a group in the Prep school that occasionally feeds back.