Do I have to pay for the supervision lunch charge if my son (4y.o.) is eligible for free school meals?

[reablaz]

Hello,

Do I have to pay for the supervision lunch charge if my son (4y.o.) is eligible for free school meals?

I have applied for free school meals recently, and received an email saying my child is eligible for free school meals.

The school charges parents £382 per academic year for the supervision at lunch time between 11:30 and 12:15 every day (45min), which is £2 per day (£10 a week, £382 per year in total); doesn't not matter if a child eats school meals (free or not), or bring their own lunch boxes with home food (schools still have to supervise and charge for it).

Google AI says if a child is eligible for free school meals, parents do not have to pay for supervision charge. We also receive 30 free hours.

Google/AI:
"Yes, if your child is eligible for free school meals, the supervision charge during lunchtime is typically covered, as the school is required to provide proper facilities and supervision for all pupils to eat their meals safely, regardless of whether they pay for lunch or not; this includes children receiving free school meals."

Government website:
"Facilities to eat the food that they bring to school must be provided free of charge for pupils not taking school meals. As a minimum these facilities should include accommodation, furniture and supervision so that pupils can eat food they have brought from home in a safe and social environment."

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/standards-for-school-food-in-england/school-food-in-england#:~:text=Facilities%20to%20eat%20the%20food,a%20safe%20and%20social%20environment.

I am confused, do we have to pay for the supervision or not?

Is it allowed by law for the school to charge for the supervision?

I am looking for calm and relevant answers with no criticism, arrogance, sarcasm or irony. If it is not the right place, please let me know, if there are any communities, forums, groups where I can ask these questions; or possibly, should I call to my district council, school itself or citizens advice?

Thank you.

I think you’ve got confused. The 30 hours are not applicable in reception class as other posters have said. You child must be in nursery if your are using funding.

Are you sure you’re not getting confused between school nursery and reception class?

when did he turn 4?

I didn't know there is a topic "Reception". I found another topic related to my query while googling, and automatically posted my topic in "Nurseries". Can moderators move it to "Reception", or do I have to post my query again in "Reception"?

You mean state school? Well all reception children get free school meals and no-one gets 30 hours funded once they've started reception.

I think your child is in pre-school rather than Reception. Reception is the first year at school; they (usually) turn 5 in that academic year.

What month and year was your DC born op?

Something has been misunderstood somewhere. x

Looking at the website for that school, they look to have a foundation unit where nursery and reception are taught together which is why the OP might be getting confused.
So my original answer to your question stands and your child is in nursery not reception.

Yes, I might be confused, not sure, but I thought, I am right. He was 4 in December . I have applied for my son for next year schools on time (met the deadline), had to make (can't remember) 4-5 school choices.

This doesn't really make sense op. You don't claim 30 hours free hours for reception - that's for pre-school children.

And all children in reception get free school meals so you won't have applied for that.

If you're concerned, speak to the local authority.

He turned 4 in 2020?

He's still in preschool then. He starts reception next year when he starts school.

No he was born in 2020

He was born in 2020 and turned 4 in December

How old is your child. If he was under 4 on the 1st of September he should be in nursery. If 4 or over reception. You don’t get FSM in Notts in nursery but sometimes they process the application.

He’s not in reception then? And he won’t be going into year 1 in Sept. He’ll be going into reception in Sept.

This isn't right.

If your child is in Reception abd this is a state school, then they cannot charge any kind of supervision fee.

If he is in Nursery/pre-school, he will not be eligible for free school meals. He might be eligible for EYPP which is a much lesser amount (£400 per year ish, I think) which is used by the nursery to support his education.

It is unusual (but not unheard of) to be eligible for 30 hours finding via working parent eligibility, AND EYPP which is for families on low incomes.

You should be able to access the full 30 hours free of charge, and without artificial breaks in the middle of the day.

If there are charge, the setting just also offer a fully free alternative eg being able to bring your own food, rather than being charged for lunch.

Honestly, my mind is absolutely blown that someone doesn't know that their child is in nursery rather than school.

The lack of engagement some parents have with anything other than money is unreal.

How can you not know if your child is in nursery / preschool or reception?

How is he in reception if he was 4 in December?

Yes, it must be. I know Holgate school which is in the same trust and they definitely don't charge reception children.

But it's standard for schools to charge for lunchtime in nursery. To pay for the staff.

Seriously how can you not know? Do you pay no attention to your child's education?

So as he’s not in reception/school yet then you won’t be entitled to free school meals. This is for school children.

@AyeBeeSea it's not standard for school nurseries to charge for lunchtimes as it goes against the funding agreements with Local Authorities.

Oh, I didn't know, he is going to the nursery (if I am right, correct me if not) for about 1 year and a half. And nobody told us our child can receive free school meals. I assume, he has the time until end of July 2025 to try some? :)
But not sure if we have to pay for the supervision lunch charge. From Sep 2024 until now we brought (and previous academic year) we brought out own meals, and had to pay for supervision lunch charge.
Do we have to pay for it, or not?

He's in F1, so he's in nursery.

That doesn't answer your question about the charge though! The answer is that FSM isn't relevant to him until next year so you'll have to pay the charge.