Free school meals families

[Fraggle45]

Has anyone had any guidelines about the vouchers mentioned yesterday?

We have 2 children who receive the pupil premium for free school meals but haven't heard anything

We did remove them from school on Monday so haven't been able to pop in to the office and ask

In fairness since the lockdown the supermarkets are much more well stocked ( well in London they are) to the point my local community group are now concerned about waste

Surely with the lockdown though, travelling daily should be discouraged. My DS school are apparently issuing vouchers but still waiting.

Not sure the government thought this through, and actually quite irresponsible given they have cracked down on people being out. They should have just said the schools need to issue vouchers full stop, as now there are children missing out due to it either costing more than the lunch itself to pick it up or people self isolating. I personally would not be able to collect a packed lunch as I am SI and my sons school is 1.3 miles away... this usually takes 30 mins door to door by bus with little traffic, but no one would do that for me daily nor would I expect them to, whereby with a voucher It would be less of an inconvenience for those helping as the Tesco and Sainsbury’s is a 5-10 minute walk from my house.

Hopefully after Easter they will revise it so people don’t have to risk catching or passing the CV to pick up a lunch.

My kids' school sent us a letter for each of them, that we had to take, along with ID, to the nearest Children's Centre where we were issued with a £10 Asda gift card per week for each child. They gave us two weeks worth (so £40 in total) to take us up to the end of term next week, and said that after the holidays they will be sending them out electronically to avoid parents having to go out and collect them.
There seems to be a massive fluctuation between areas in how much help parents are getting. Hopefully by the time the holidays are over, there will be a standardised plan in place.

Many councils trying to roll the vouchers out by next week. Policy changed after the lockdown announcement. Schools no longer want FSM to come in, so are trying to get sorted ASAP.

I believe in our area they are providing food parcels at the moment.

I had a letter hand delivered with 2 Asda gift cards worth £30 each (2 dc) £3 per day for 10 days. They are going to review it in due course.

I got a £44 Asda gift card email last Friday, and will do so fortnightly. I was surprised they sorted it all out so quickly.

My DCs school have sent out Tesco vouchers. The government scheme hasn't started yet.

My understanding is that help is being offered to all FSM pupils, rather than PP pupils. The type of help will be decided by the school, but varies from providing a daily meal or packed lunch, to food parcels and vouchers. I have read in the news that the Co-op academies are giving pupils £20 pw in shopping vouchers, while another school was posting vouchers to families this week for £2.50 a day. I'm sure that £12.50 pw towards the weekly food shop will help, but it did strike me that £2.50 a day wouldn't even pay for a sandwich meal deal.

I too was thinking how on earth is £2.20 per day going to do anything as they should be basing it on what their schools FSM cost is. I’m pretty sure when I was reading the guidance it said the schools should also include breakfast club costs but I will need to look for that to make sure I wasn’t dreaming that up, so that would probably explain some schools offering around £3 as they appear to be including the breakfast and others around the average school meal of £2.20 as the latter aren’t including the breakfast.

As parents we don’t get the bulk discounts schools get to be able to make a meal for the children at £2 per day unless you make them sandwiches and a piece of fruit daily then it could be done, or a big batch of pasta salad or even the £1 pizza from Iceland ( although I would not advise that daily) . I’m sure Jamie Oliver has some show on how to make healthy kids meals at £2 per head. I’m just happy I’m getting something even if £2 and some change as my utilities alone has gone up more than I’d like since we have all been stuck at home 24/7 😔

I believe it is £2.30 per day per child who is on FSM. Our MAT took a list from each school of the children on FSM and their carers mobile and email. The MAT has purchased a weeks worth of the vouchers per child and a link will be sent via text or email that the carer follows and downloads a QR code. The code is then scanned at the checkout.

There is a lot wrong with the system (not everyone has a smart phone, not everyone has internet etc) but I am impressed at the speed in which this has been set up - the Wonde people have literally built this up over the weekend! At the moment I believe it is only Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury accepting, but later on hopefully Lidl, Aldi and Iceland will sign up.

The problem with giving vouchers to parents is, a large number of them won’t spend it on food for their children.

Picking up packed lunches whilst inconvenient is the only practical way at the moment.

I think the government is looking at the wider needs. Yes I am Sure there are some that will not spend it on their children, but then there are also parents that could pick up the pack lunch and eat if for themselves, either way we can’t guarantee anything but what we do know is the government does not want this situation worsening.

When the alternative to the vouchers is to have families leave (not everyone has a partner that can watch their children whilst they go out) their homes to make daily round trips on a bus as not everyone’s child goes to the school around the corner, which will be an additional financial burden on them, as well as risk spreading/Catching CV it would be very irresponsible for the government to encourage people to go out daily when they have just said we all need to stay at home. Some have already pointed out they won’t bother collecting as the cost for them to collect it, isn’t worth it so the child is missing out and possibly not getting fed as well as they should be anyway not because they are terrible lazy parents, but it doesn’t make financial sense and isn’t worth the health risk when you weigh it up.

I can’t leave. I am high risk and have mild symptoms, my son has picked up a mild cough too, is my son just supposed to go without because I am playing by the rules? No one I know is going to want to trek daily to his school for me, stand with groups of other people ( 37% are FSM out of 1200 pupils) spending £3 in bus fare to his school to pick up a sandwich and a bit of fruit that cost £2.20 whereby a shopping list and a voucher so they can do a one off shop in a supermarket within walking distance they are willing to do.

@exLtEveDallas my DS school are sending ours in the post but then god knows when that will arrive/if it arrives. I do like the idea of the online QR code but as you say, not everyone has a smart phone.

So what is the alternative? Schools can’t deliver the lunches.

My daughters school is an infant school so universal fsm. They sent an email to gauge interest in their lunch offer which would be a sandwich, oat bar and piece of fruit. I'm fortunate enough to not need the free lunch but it seems like a pretty small lunch for those that really need it.

My school has sent us a £20 electronic voucher for our nearest supermarket. I went and bought food with it yesterday. I think we will be getting one each week which is a plus because they only get £12.50 a week in free school meals anyway.

It varies depending on local authorities. I have friends who's area are giving vouchers - some have already had them and others who are expected to go and pick up a packed lunch each day (seems daft having lots of people turn up in a short space of time)
I'm in scotland and money has been paid paid directly in to accounts in my area to the value of the school meals

From what I've heard different schools are doing different things each week. This week we pick ours up from school. Next week we get a voucher.

Perhaps you should return the extra money, as you aren’t entitled to it.

Of course they are entitled to it - that's what's been provided. Bizarre response 😆

My school has sent us a £20 electronic voucher for our nearest supermarket. I went and bought food with it yesterday. I think we will be getting one each week which is a plus because they only get £12.50 a week in free school meals anyway.

Our LA is £22 direct payment per eligible child but that's until the Easter holidays

What mean spirited posts, Bulb1976.

We got our vouchers from secondary school yesterday. £25 per child for 2 weeks. (£2.50 a day). Primary haven't said a word.
Luckily there's a tesco near my work that's been quite well stocked, so I will actually be able to use them.

Personally I do not begrudge FSM families a few extra pounds, especially at this time of national emergency. Costs must have gone up for many with DC home all day - food, fuel, homeschooling items, activities to stave off boredom - yet with little or no disposable income to cover it. The government thankfully agrees with me too. The published guidance for schools on this initiative recognises that families could be given more than the school receives because they will not have the same opportunity as schools to buy food in bulk at a discount. My understanding is that the government will cover the extra.