How will the extension of FSM be managed practically in schools?

[Pandersmum]

i think that the new free school meal provision for children with parents on UC will be an absolute nightmare for schools to manage, further diverting limited school resources away from actually teaching all state school children.

Also how will they practically be able to manage different dietary ‘requirements/preferences’ of children with medical conditions which restricts the foods that they can eat / don’t like eating?

Also reading in the newspaper today there will be further restrictions as to what schools will be allowed to feed children. Does the waste food in schools ever get monitored?

….. whilst sounding initially good intentioned (hungry children are not optimum learners), I just think this will practically be an absolute nightmare for schools to actually manage on a day to day basis.

I’m not a teacher and I don’t have any school age children but if I just think this is yet another potential unworkable challenge our state schools are being given.

No it’s not a benefit bashing thread. I was asking a genuine question.

Clearly the majority seem to think it’s a non issue.
Clearly the role of school is changing.

Im not sure what you are asking exactly here? Especially of you dont have school aged kids.

The rule originally was if your earnings was under a certain amount you qualified for FSM from year 2 upwards DESPITE earninhs which will carry on from primary to high school.

I now believe that it will change that you will need to qualify for FSM after year 2 and wont remain om FSM if your earnings increase unlike the rules now.

Had these exact blockers raised on repeat for KS1 FSM all those years ago- seems ok now doesn’t it?! I wouldn’t worry about it op

It’s good to hear that people are in favour. I won’t give it another thought!

Always hearing that state schools are chronically financially underfunded to provide a good all round education to all pupils. Not working in education I was not aware that FSM funding was being funded from different pots.

it would good if the educational aspects of school could be equally well funded!

Hardest thing will be to get the parents to download and email the eligibility certificate. Once we've crossed that hurdle (which is largely down to them not spelling their name correctly or putting in this year's birthday, rather than their date of birth/getting their NI number wrong), you just click to the relevant box on the student record, enter the start date and location and save. It then syncs with the payment system overnight and hopefully with the tills after that. Job done.

Why would it cause chaos?
The money wil come from a different pot
And regarding getting parents to claim it will be the same as it is now if they don't want to claim they won't get the free meal it's not compulsory

Parent and teacher here - it’s absolutely fine and easy to manage. Children need food.

I think free school meals to all children is actually the way it should be. It’s one way of making sure all children get food regardless.

As money doesn’t always make its way to the places it should for whatever reasons leaving children still hungry. If from a government pot, every child got some type of breakfast (toast bagel) and lunch at least during school no child is starving.

I know on the last day of school here they give away all bread items and fruits / veggies they have in for anyone and everyone who wants to take some home as well.

When it became full school in London our local primary ended up with one KS2 yeargroup getting a packed lunch each day for a couple of years before they upgraded the kitchen, I think Friday is easier to cook stuff so they could all have it.

We’ve managed it in Scotland fine.

It's been no problem for P1 to P5 children in schools in Scotland.

Why do you think expanding FSM to UC will make a difference to schools managing children with dietary needs?

That question was in relation to what was reported in the press today about further restrictions on what food schools will be able to provide in the future.

If a child has severe restrictions due to medical reasons/allergies etc it is likely their parents will provide a packed lunch anyway.

My son has a restricted diet and I will continue to send him with packed lunches from September even though I receive UC.

I think that all primary children should have free school meals in the uk as in Scotland.
I feel it’s fair to say that just because people don’t qualify for UC it doesn’t mean they have tonnes of money, they could just be a small bit above the threshold for it, or thru the COLC have a lot less disposable income.

I think it would be a massive help, as would these free breakfast clubs which haven’t happened round here, a couple of schools apparently trialed them but I know the schools local to us aren’t offering them.

I work in a regional catering position in a MAT, both primary and secondary.

Of the 23 schools on my patch I can foresee issues in a number of them.

The schools with a high percentage of FSM will be smooth sailing but the schools that have less current FSM percentage that will likely rise significantly will struggle.

This is not due to managing allergies or students likes but it will be due to a lag in staffing increase.

With schools budgets being increasingly stretched when schools have to choose between a member of teaching (inc TAs) or catering staff catering comes at the bottom of the pile- same with cleaning teams.

Schools are stretched in catering departments so any increase of uptake like what may happen has a negative impact as catering departments are expected to just absorb the increase without additional staffing hours to order/store/prepare/serve food or investment in equipment to accommodate increasing demand.

Unfortunately it will most likely take until Christmas for schools to realise they need to hire more staff despite catering teams notifying them in advance and through out the whole first term. By the time an advert has gone out and suitable candidates found and had DBS and references done it will be lucky if you get the additional staffing needed by the end of Jan

How would anyone be able to tell which children are receiving free meals due to UC anyway? Surely it just goes on as credit on their lunch accounts, same as any other child when their parents top up.

School meals are an anachronism. Thevkids6 are only at school 6 hourds or so. Their parents can send them all with a pack up.

@PedanticPrincess

You are correct,

at primary level this information just sits back of house on the ordering system used to send the meal choices to the kitchen.

at secondary level this is just added to the cashless catering account as credit. Unless you’re digging behind the scenes no one will know your child is FSM.

the only identifying point would probably be if you opt for a school packed lunch for trips. Some schools will provide a packed lunch for all to stop this identification and ensure FSM take the meal on offer. Some children on FSM opt out of the where not universally offered to avoid being identified

I worry about what the staff will think of my family. I shouldn’t think like that but there it is. There is a lot of stigma about families using benefits, you see it all over this board. I worry that the staff will have low expectations of my children and talk down to me.

I’m not sure I understand the issue. Free school meals for those on low income have been around for decades. Universal infant school meals came in around 2014. What is it that schools will need to manage differently?

It's currently the case that once you're entitled to FSM you're eligible for them forever. Even if you won the lottery a few days after being granted them. This was supposed to have ended in September, being replaced by annual evaluations but not everything was in place so an extension was granted to Sept '26

I’m sorry, but myself and my husband work full time and we get a top up of universal credit as we privately rent. Do I care what the staff of a school might think of me if it helps our family financially? No. And as I previously correctly assumed, no one will even know anyway, let alone care.

The staff won't give a monkey's - especially if your kid qualifies for Pupil Premium, as that means an extra 1000-1500 quid to go towards trying to make the kids' lives better.

It's not a subject for conversation in class, it's not anything remarkable, it's just a tag on the record and a credit on the lunch account - where we've had a couple of people desperate/anxious to be sure it was kept secret and decided that the child wouldn't be allowed to take up the food/holiday vouchers in case somebody noticed, what they didn't know was that 1 in 3 of the kids in that child's class were also entitled to FSM.

Once the initial worry abated - as hardly anybody knows (unless the child tells them) and nobody cares - I think they were a lot happier about the reduced cost music lessons/trips/equipment/laptop/etc.