You may be aware that schools’ budgets are enhanced through a ’Pupil Premium’ grant and this income to the school is determined by the number of students eligible for a Free School Meal (FSM).
Just registering your child for Free School Meals means that the school will receive additional funding to support their learning.
We appreciate that some parents do not claim Free School Meals as they feel that they can cope without so doing, and/or they feel that their child may be singled out by other students. Free School Meals are however an important entitlement for those families who meet the criteria and it is astonishing to think that 300,000 children who are entitled to FSM don’t actually take advantage of them. There are systems in school to ensure that students who are in receipt of FSM are not identified by their peers. This is because all payments are credited directly onto the student’s personal access card and for those children in receipt of FSM, this is done automatically. When they purchase a meal, they hand their card to the cashier in just the same way as all other students.
Parents of students who are eligible for FSM can save approximately £350 year.
Parents are now asked to apply for FSM online; please use the ‘apply’ button above and follow the simple instructions. You will be asked a series of questions to ascertain your eligibility. This is very quick process which will only take a few minutes of your time. Alternatively you can contact Student Services for an application form and we will make the application on your behalf.
If your child chooses not to eat school meals, but you know that you are eligible for FSM, even for what you may anticipate to be a short period of time, can we please encourage you to register as by doing so, you will be supporting our school to receive the additional funding.