Free school meals for KS1

[Bid876]

Can someone please tell me if I’m right. All children in KS1 so Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 receive free school meals? This is based on the class they are in and not their age.

Im asking as my DDs (year 2) school have started charging for school dinners since Christmas, they are claiming because she turns 8 this year and it is based on her dob not her year group. Dd was deferred a year so is in the year group below her birth cohort.

At first they claimed it was because she was put on the year 3/4 register. We are working on moving her up a year but she still dose her core subjects with year 2 and our agreement with the school was it would be a gradual movement with her moving up a year from September 2025. When queried this they changed their response to its based on her DOB.

You state she's been kept back a year so she's already done reception, Yr 1 & 2, so repeating Yr 2 again??

You state she's been kept back a year so she's already done reception, Yr 1 & 2, so repeating Yr 2 again??

Do you genuinely believe that this child's own parent doesn't know how many years she has attended school?

Why do you think that she's done year two twice when her own parent says otherwise?

Although it's possible to be 'kept back' as you put it in England once you have actually started school, that's not how most deferments happen.

She was not kept back a year, I did not say that, she was legally deferred a year, so she started a school a year later than when she was due to start. She has not repeated a year, if anything she will be doing 1 less year in primary school eventually.

It's done by year group not by age. They may need to amend their system but you are definitely still entitled.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachmentdata/file/700139/Freeeschoolmealssguidance_Apr18.pdf

Section 106 of the Children and Families Act 2014 makes provision for free school meals to be provided for all pupils in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/6/section/106/enacted

Won't you have had free school meals for her already in r, 1 and 2? Therefore you're asking for a 4th year instead of the 3 everyone else gets?

Sorry just read your updated post.

Surely it must be done by year group not age?
My youngest daughters birthday is 1st of September so she will already be 7 when she starts year 2 and therefore before census day.... they can't deny her free school meals because she has an early in the year birthday!

I think people were querying it because it's not uncommon to be taught in a different class whilst technically being on the register for another year group. My daughter had someone in her class for R and Y1 who disappeared at tge start of Y2; I assumed she'd gone to special school but actually she'd just moved up to the junior school because she'd done YR twice. Deferring before school is still relatively new in England, but situations like the OP's will start to arise more often.