Has everyone got their School meal vouchers

[locomoco19]

My school said I should receive an email by the 20th from the government, I then would select the supermarket and they would give the voucher for that supermarket. Is that how it's working?

Is the voucher for all children in infant school that are entitled to free meals?
I won't get it for my year 3 child as not entitled to it. However a family has just said they got the voucher for both their kids in year 3 and 4, they are not in benefit of free school meals so am really confused why they have got it. They live in a different part of the country to me, so thinking does the rules vary

@MrsWombat It is based on pupil premium so yes they do get it. I checked with my local council. Pupil premium IS free school meals now.

Pupil Premium relates to whether a child has been in receipt of FSM in the previous 6 years. To get the vouchers (in England), you need to be in receipt of FSM now.

3DCs at 3 different schools (1 with special needs so while they do go to a mainstream school, it is a lot smaller so better for him, 1 NT child who goes to the bigger secondary school and 1 in primary school)

With DS we have been emailed a voucher for £30 for Tesco twice (so for 4 weeks)
DD1 we have had an email on Thursday to say to expect an email with a voucher within 72 hours. Obvs its been Easter weekend since then so I'm not sure if that just wasn't thought out properly
DD2 we have had gift cards for Tesco delivered through the post. We've only had 2 I think.

Originally when they first stopped going to school we did have the option to go to pick up the meals from each school, but I decided that was a waste of time and effort. I let all the schools know that with not having to drive to work everyday I was saving money on fuel so am able to afford to get the extra food in.

The Government fund the £15 for only those who qualify on low income

That’s not consistent across the 4 nations, it’s certainly not the case in Scotland where local authorities are setting their own criteria where practical and many are including those who are part of universal FSM provision for infant school.

Pupil premium is not the measure.
Some PP children do not qualify.

Forget Pupil premium.

It is low income only and this excludes some pupil premium children.

To try to clear up any confusion pupil premium is given in varying amount for:

1. pupils eligible for fsm (means rested, not the universal reception and ks1 fsm)
2. pupils who have been eligible at any point in the last 6 years for fsm
3. looked after and previously looked after children (ie those in care etc)
4. services children

As far as I'm aware only the first category automatically gets these vouchers. I guess some schools/authorities may be funding beyond the government remit (and this is for England, other parts of the uk will differ).

If ppl you know are getting vouchers there's probably a reason you don't know. It's more likely than them somehow cheating the system.

So guys it seems every school is working in different ways to each other in regards to the vouchers.

The old school my children attended, all pupils from reception to year 6 have/are receiving voucher per child every week, they even got it for the 2 week easter. I know this for a fact as am friends with the teachers from that school and just spoke to them few days ago.

The new school that my children now attend seem to be giving a lot of mixed responses. But it seems they are only giving to free school meals children, whether that's all infants or just benefits isn't still quite clear.

I don't understand how other schools are able to give to all children? It's the government money isn't it? I doubt the school will fork it out themselves for every single child

@PumpkinP Sadly not, only in store. At least that is the case with mine 🤷🏼‍♀️

@PumpkinP I'm in the same position as you though. It's a real pain

Every local authority seems to be making a different rule. Non LA schools different again

Because we live in a random place the high school my teens go to is in a different council area to the primary my younger ones go to. The way the two councils are doing it is totally different! One is doing it for all FSM, all PP and all vulnerable children. The other is doing it strictly for FSM qualifying children.

In Scotland all primary school children p1 to p3 are entitled to free meals

Not all councils are giving vouchers to all P1 to P3 pupils however. South Lanarkshire for one are only giving them to families who'd be financially eligible.

The voucher i recieved before half term could be spent online