Free school meals

[Fruitbatfruitcake]

My DC is starting reception in September. What do I need to do to make sure he gets the free school lunches he's entitled to. I don't want him to turn up on first day and go hungry because I havent set it up properly. Tried to e mail school directly to ask but apparently they don't monitor e mail over the summer. I cant find any info anywhere in the welcome packs. Please help

Are they going in for whole days straight away? Ours didn't have lunch until week 3 due to how they transitioned them in

Every child in reception to Y2 is entitled to free school meals so your child won't go hungry 😀

Is your dc likely to be in school all day initially? Often the start is staggered, so either mornings or afternoon, then lunch gets added. All infant children are entitled to lunch and I expect more information will appear after the bank holiday when staff start to return.

You don't have to do anything, it happens automatically.

I’m in Scotland and every child gets free school meals from Primary 1 to Primary 5. I think I’m England it’s just the first few years. For those, you don’t have to do anything. They all get them.

After those years, you only get them on a low income and you apply by going onto the council website for your council and filling in the form. If you’re entitled due to low income, you should still apply even during the early years when all kids get them because it also then gives the school a pupil premium payment they can use to help low income kids with extra stuff. And it usually entitles you to a school clothing grant as well.

You don’t need to be emailing the school; they don’t do anything. You fill in the form through your council website. You’d have found that out by googling. If you’re low income, google your council and free school meals/school clothing grant. Fill in the form.

There isn’t a generic answer as school’s do it differently so no one can really answer. Is there no mention in the welcome / induction pack or
website? Your child will be entitled so it will probably be fine!

At our school they prefer you to order the meals online, but they also ask the kids during morning registration whether they have packed lunch and what they want for school lunch if it hasn’t been ordered. No one would go hungry.

Normally just before the start of term we get a letter or email from school telling us how to login to the online ordering system.

This is a rural school is Scotland. I assume other schools have different arrangements!

It's hard to advise as all schools are different. He's definitely entitled to a free lunch up until the end of Year 2, but all schools work differently in terms of how to book them. Depending on the catering company, they do need to be pre-booked in most schools.

I'm really surprised this isn't covered in your welcome pack or wasn't mentioned during an information evening (assuming they had one/you went).

If you don't find out how to do this in advance, could you pop in or ring during their training day(s) in September? Most schools will have at least one and office staff will be in.

If you're unable to do that and Reception start on the same day as the rest of the school, and stay for lunch straight away, you could always pack an emergency pack lunch just for the first day. Pop in to the office after dropping him to ask about lunches. If it's too late to book for that day at least he'll have a lunch for that day (he definitely wouldn't be the only packed lunch) and they should be able to advise you how to book going forwards.

Edited to add, your child definitely won't go hungry as all schools will have back up contingency plans for children without a lunch, if it hasn't been booked (not uncommon on the first day) but I appreciate you want to be prepared as nobody wants to be 'that parent', plus you want to ensure he's got a meal choice he's likely to eat, rather than something which has been booked for you.

At my DS' school, it's assumed that everyone will have school lunch

If it's the universal free school meals, you don't need to do anything. If it's income related you should still register/apply (ours is through the local council) as then the school gets extra money through pupil premium.

We have an app and book what meals we want on there,
do you have an induction pack from school? That normally has all the information in that you need.

We got given instructions via email, as we need to order in advance online (mist schools local to me have similar)

Thanks for all the replies. I went to all the information meetings and they just said they encouraged you to take the option of the school lunches until year 2. I cant find how to opt in anywhere. Thanks ro the poster who said they will give lunch and not let him go hungry. I don't want to send him in qith a packed lunch as he is they type of child who thrives of routine and sending him in one day with a packed lunch then expecting him to get a hot dinner the next day would massively throw him off his stride. I'll try and make contact on a training day and see if I have missed something. We are in England if that makes a difference.

He will get a meal. It will, if your provider is anything like ours, default to the " main" selection. If, going forward, he might want to have one of the other options, you will probably need to register online with the provider and then you will be able to chose from ( for example) vegetarian option or sandwich option etc. our parents are provided with instructions on how to register in the welcome pack that is handed out but you might find information on the school website. But , don't worry. There will definitely be food for him!

THIS IS A MESSAGE FOR ALL NEW RECEPTION PARENTS

If you think you would have qualified for fsm ( even without the universal meal) then it is really important that you “apply” in the normal way. The school will get extra funding ( pupil premium)right up until year 6, even if your circumstances change. Schools are really strapped for cash, the extra funding for eligible children can make a huge difference, not just to what they can do to support your child, but in how that ripples out across the school.

Pupil premium for fsm eligible children is £1480 for 2014/2015. Children who are previously LAC are also eligible, their pp is £2570.

There are two parts to your question:

How does your child qualify?
As other posters have advised, in Enhland (if that is where you are, apologies I am.incorrect) currently all children in EYFS and KS1 (Reception, Year 1 and Year 2) automatically receive free school dinners. This is the UFSM (Universal Free School Meal) scheme. As it stands, when your child goes into KS2 (Year 3) you will need to pay for school meals unless,prior to that point, you meet the criteria and have applied via your local council for FSM (Free School Meals) which are means tested and aso have implications of other funding for your child while in full time education (eg free school milk, possible findi g for trips etc)

How do I make sure my child gets a school dinner on the day they start school?

Unil your child walks into school on their first day they aren't yet on the school roll, and while not on the school roll can't be set up on school systems such as meal.ordering sysems, payment sysyens, school.apps etc. You will usually get invites to set up all these within the first week or two.

You need to check if your child is having a dinner at school fir the first few days... some schools, if doing half days at first, dont include a school dinner to help children not be overwhelmed on day 1. If they are, it may be children are going to pick their own dinners in school if that is the usual.option (with help of staff) to gain a little independanxe.

If you have been receivi g communications from school have a look back through - emails, parent apps, letters etc whete there might be a quick sentance that covers it.

If office staff are term time contracts, tjey wont be in until school term starts (sometimes day 1 is an inset day so you might get further communications the day before they start).

Good luck to your dc!

Ring your local council (or look on the website)to register for free school meals. That way, the school will also get Pupil Premium Grant Funding, which the school may use to support school trips and in-class support. Our schools also use it to provide free music tuition from Yr3 onwards.

^this a million times. It is really important to the school (and, as a result, your child). Your child’s peers & their parents WILL NOT know! In fact, your child won’t know unless you tell them.

The school or council will likely have a procedure for checking based on NI information. Additional checks are completed for new starters throughout the year.

We can only check if we have the necessary information and permission. There is a section on our admission form asking for parents name, DOB, NI number and permission to check for entitlement. This section is often left blank and we can’t insist on this information being supplied.
When we run the check we have to confirm that we have the parents permission to use their data.