No free school meals during Feb half term

[noblegiraffe]

The new guidance on free school meals says that schools should not provide food or vouchers during Feb half term.

This won’t be needed as some general funding is going to LAs and they will be expected to provide food/support for the week schools are off.

This is bonkers, right? They’ve only just sorted it so that kids get more than a manky banana, cheese and dry bread for lunch and they’re going to switch to a different system for a week?

Does this government just really hate feeding hungry kids?

YANBU: sticking with one system for feeding disadvantaged kids would be best

YABU: it’ll be fine, no one will fall through the cracks and the transition will be seamless.

Feeding children who aren't being fed at all at home is just papering over the cracks. Instead of feeding them why on earth arent these children being removed from those environments and cared for properly
Awesome udea!
Except where are they going to go.
In many authorities children's homes are shut down or only have 3 or 4 beds. So they habrvto go into private fostering.
Except there's more demand than places. That leaves private residential which will charge the LA anything from several hundred a week to several thousand per child.
It possible thr child would have to leave their area. How does that help anyone?

Was it on here I saw someone talking about a mum going off to the food bank, fag in mouth?

I do think children need to be and should be fed, holidays or not. I think it would be beneficial to look at categories of FSM and update them. I’ve said it on here before, some children receive FSM because their parent is in the military and it’s expected they are ‘vulnerable’ due to potentially missing schooling. They may be Eversix, so at some point in the past 6 years, a parent’s income may have fallen beneath the threshold, but now may be well above it.

I’d say FSM for those in real need, then it would be more affordable\viable.

It’s bureaucracy gone mad. It’s a week. Use the same system. If it’s working why change it? It’s an utter disgrace that kids go hungry.

A poster up thread said that their council had already sorted out the vouchers for February.
If councils have done that, what should they do with the vouchers if the system changes?

There is a plan for February half term for FSM kids to get money. I don't understand why people are cross that it is continuing. The councils have the money for it.
The schools don't.

Fucks sake the schools are providing them currently then the la ie schools are closed they have enough shit to deal with also don't think they should provide money like this at all and should just increase child benefit and it would solve tons of issues as everyone on a low income would get the extra that they need

@Livelovebehappy

Another one getting p’d off about free school lunches being offered during the holidays. I could understand it when schools were closed during the first lockdowns but surely during normal school holidays, you would normally feed your own children? The problem with setting up schemes like this is that at the end of it, you’re going to get people kicking off when it’s stopped.

Yeh, they magic up money and food in the holidays that they don't have the rest of the time. Poverty goes on holiday.

It was never stopped. There's always been controversy over FSM not being in the holidays, always. It's more so this year because it was proposed due to the pandemic and the Tories voted against it. Shock.

@Dddccc

Fucks sake the schools are providing them currently then the la ie schools are closed they have enough shit to deal with also don't think they should provide money like this at all and should just increase child benefit and it would solve tons of issues as everyone on a low income would get the extra that they need

Increasing child benefit would give money to people who don’t need it. It’s a rubbish idea. Spot on @NotDonna.

How about parents take some responsibility

@BumbleBiscuit

Can’t feed em, don’t breed em!

Yes people loose jobs and things go wrong, but the majority of these situations are down to bad family planning choices!

Please tell me when it became the child's responsibility what their parents decide to do, and why they should suffer?

@DHdweller

How about parents take some responsibility

Great point . Wish we'd thought of that. You could have been saving the government millions with that stroke of genius.

@poshme

A poster up thread said that their council had already sorted out the vouchers for February. If councils have done that, what should they do with the vouchers if the system changes?

There is a plan for February half term for FSM kids to get money. I don't understand why people are cross that it is continuing. The councils have the money for it.
The schools don't.

Aren't the councils short of funds as a rule though

@woodhill my understanding is they were given extra funds specially for this

Increasing child benefit would give money to people who don’t need it. It’s a rubbish idea

Not every person on FSM needs them either. My two friends who receive them are nowhere near poverty. They run a car have luxuries etc the children are always well fed and happy. One has more savings in the bank than I do. Their children would be fine without the vouchers.

On the other hand there will be families who have been furloughed or one parent has lost their job or hours have been cut who suddenly lost a lot of income but are not entitled to fsm. These people aren’t getting any help, they aren’t being recognised.

It’s not a blanket FSM = poverty and everyone else is just fine. The focus is only on children who receive FSM and it worries me that there will be so many families who have had their income slashed like myself but are not entitled to help.

Yes underthecedertree al those horid Sikhs giving a meal to anyone who comes with out question how dare they.

Why is the government now expected to provide free meals year round? Where are the parents...

@roarfeckingroarr

Why is the government now expected to provide free meals year round? Where are the parents...

They're all getting pissed and smoking fags while watching their wide screen tvs.

@perditaplum

I would love to hear from an actual poor person living in this situation to understand your day to day lifestyle.

Read the full thread.

I'm not living in this situation now but I did as a kid. A mother who always had her highlights done yet allegedly couldn't afford to get a full weeks shop and had us fill ourselves up at school dinners. Bills were always paid, but yeah, she had more important personal items to buy over food for her kids. Always a bottle of gin in the house.

@roarfeckingroarr

Why is the government now expected to provide free meals year round? Where are the parents...

Down the pub drinking straight vodka and smoking while the babies clean the house. Obviously.

Loads of unclaimed FSM packages at my school.
We gave them away to a food bank in the end.
Such a waste.

@Cherrysoup I’ve said it on here before, some children receive FSM because their parent is in the military and it’s expected they are ‘vulnerable’ due to potentially missing schooling. well you were wrong both then and now. Those children get pupil premium not fsm.

@Cherrysoup also Eversix children don’t get fsm either just pupil premium. You really need to check your facts before posting.

Children have always been given free lunches in the holidays via multiple lunch clubs run by charities, churches , cafes and sometimes schools

And yet numerous people report that the take up of these is pretty small
Obviously there'll be issues around lockdown, but because of reports about the numerous "desperate local families" our own community hall did this in October; it's no more than 10 mins walk from anywhere in the village, but just 3 children turned up

@Wheresmykimchi glad to assist