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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Free school meals-is there really still a stigma attached to having them?

40 replies

FuriousGeorge · 12/01/2010 20:37

I was reading the dd's school OFSTED report today and it mentioned that none of the pupils were entitled to free school meals.I was surprised and mentioned it to my sister who works in a similar school a few miles away and she said that there is only one child who has free school meals there,but there are more who are probably entitled to them,but won't claim them 'because of the stigma attached to them'

I was really surprised in this day and age,that people would think that it is something to be ashamed of,and surely the other children and parents wouldn't know who was or wasn't getting them anyway?

Any thoughts?

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Cyb · 12/01/2010 20:39

Yes there SHOULD be no stigma. In fact how my school encouraged take up was from the point of view that even if the families didn;t take up the meals, the school got more funding if they claimed so they would be helping the school.

It's done in a very discreeet way at my school. Someone collects the free packed lunches and pops them in the empty box the child brings.

norksinmywaistband · 12/01/2010 20:39

Not sure if there is a stigma attached bit DD has free school meals and know that at least 2 others in her class do, and that is just reception.

May depend on the area and the school

mrz · 12/01/2010 20:41

OFSTED reports usually state how many are entitled rather than how many are actually claiming the free meal. It actually helps the school value added status to have high free school meal entitlement.
In my LA all children receive free school meals.

treedelivery · 12/01/2010 20:44

If dd was offered them I'd bite their hand off, so if there is stigma then these people are either very very well off, of very very stupid, or very very prejudice. Perhaps all 3.

I had them in the 70's and 80's. There was a horrible stigma then but I like to think we have progressed a bit in 30 years.

Maybe not though, in those kind of areas. Whereever they are.

Good question!

muggglewump · 12/01/2010 20:44

DD had free dinners for the first two years, and then for another 5 months last year and never mentioned anything about it.

I just asked her now if any of her friends get free dinners and she has no idea so they must be discrete.

I know there must be a few though as when we were asked to send in a packed lunch just before Christmas they made a point of saying that those on free meals would have one provided by the School.

I'd never have thought of not claiming them. I couldn't afford to pay and DD loves her dinners so I'd rather she had them then I had sent her with the cheap packed lunch I could have afforded.

treedelivery · 12/01/2010 20:45

We had to put our hand up and be given a token to claim our free dinners. In the morning in front of class.

Horrible thing to do to children really. There were 2 of us I think.

RubysReturn · 12/01/2010 20:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Feenie · 12/01/2010 20:55

Not even teachers know who is on free school meals now - all is dealt with by the office, I have no clue!

NewnameSameoldme · 12/01/2010 21:11

I don't give a sh%t if there's a stigma attached to it. I know my own worth even if I am unemployed right now.
If anyone dared to look down their nose at me because my child has free lunches I would very quickly make sure the blushes were on their cheeks.

cat64 · 12/01/2010 21:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

pinkteddy · 12/01/2010 21:20

Once they are in secondary school its definitely worth claiming for free school meals if you can as it often means that school trips etc are subsidised and/or free too.

Original poster

FuriousGeorge · 12/01/2010 21:34

Thanks for the replies,its interesting to hear how the meals work these days.I seem to remember when I was at school,those on free meals had a little card to show.I'm glad things have changed.

I can't imagine any of the mums at the dd's school looking down on someone over free meals,we are all pretty down to earth,some are a lot better off than others,but we all moan ab out paying for trips ect,and more than one of us has one dc having school dinners and one sandwiches and swapping over the next week,because they can't afford 2 or 3 lots of school dinners every week.I bet there's not one of us who'd turn them down if offered them.

OP posts:

juliemacc · 13/01/2010 09:49

No-one will know on a classroom level, it is done discreetly.

Awassailinglookingforanswers · 13/01/2010 09:54

DS1 and 2 both get free school meals (packed lunches - not hot meals served at either of their schools). I don't think there's a stigma attached any more - certainly neither of them have said anything to me about it - other than knowing who else has a free school lunch base don the contents of their lunchbox (they're all teh same lol).

It's all done very discreetly - food placed into lunchboxes before lunchtime while children are in lessons.

I have to say - I was too proud for a while to actually claim them (but I'd ticked on the form to say that I was entitled to as both schools ask all parents who do qualify (even if they don't actually claim them) to tick the box - for the reasons given above. I was worried about the stigma..........but nearly 2yrs on and there's been no issue.

SE13Mummy · 13/01/2010 14:19

At the last school I taught at the children thought it was weird that anyone did pay for school dinners! Almost the entire class received a free school meal and those who didn't usually brought a packed lunch.

As others have said, it's dealt with in the offices these days and the kitchen staff just dish out a meal to whoever appears in front of them

At my DH's secondary school the canteen works on some kind of a biometric cash card system whereby parents pay money onto the card online. Pupils who claim FSM have their money added by the school office (he thinks!) but it wouldn't be obvious when it came to paying.

flaime · 14/01/2010 13:41

At our school they give the same tickets to kids having free meals as they do to the kids who buy the tickets so no-one can tell anyway.

If they go on trips etc then the kitchen supply the packed lunch but I've never seen any kids made fun of because of it so I don't think it's such a problem these days.

No different from how kids with glasses used to get picked on when we were at school, but nowadays it's totally normal for lots of kids to wear them so no-one takes any notice.

ShoshanaBlue · 14/01/2010 18:27

We are entitled to free school meals, but I don't claim them (as child has self-restricted diet and wouldn't touch them with a barge pole). However, a letter went from the education office to the school to say that we were entitled to them. I think that they need to have the letter from the council department for statistics and such like. Poverty (for which being entitled to free school meals seems to be the only measurable factor!) has a negative impact on educational achievement so I think that it's important to claim for them.

I didn't realise there was a stigma attached, surely most children are on them?

Takver · 14/01/2010 19:08

With packed lunch for trips, our school give parents the option of paying for a packed lunch from the canteen, so no-one would know whether it was a free lunch or a paid for packed one anyway.

I agree its the same with glasses too, thank god that the days of NHS glasses are over & done with & you just get a voucher.

Tryharder · 14/01/2010 20:09

Shoshana, I don't think most children are on them. I earn probably a below average income and DH is currently unemployed and we certainly don't get them.

saintpeta · 19/01/2010 21:02

There should be no stigma and no one does know in our school until recently when there was a correlation between FSM and lower achievement in our school children. We have now been told to monitor FSM children to get their marks up. I was shocked.

SparklePrincess · 20/01/2010 20:02

When our school has a day trip etc. (Which is quite frequently) I have to provide my own packed lunch despite the fact that im entitled to a free school meal. I dont think it occurs to the school to organise something as its a fairly affluent area.

pagwatch · 20/01/2010 20:06

treedelivery.
me too. they used to call our names out and we had to go to the front to collect them.

piscesmoon · 20/01/2010 20:21

I don't think there can be-I am a supply teacher and I never have any idea who has free meals, despite doing the dinner register.

gingernutlover · 20/01/2010 21:04

I teach in Kent and I mark in the dinner register S for standard meal (being charged) and F for free school meal but the children don't see this and probably don't even know their meals are free. Any dinner money goes straight to the office so there isnt an issue with some not giving me money etc.

A lot more children are entitled to Free meals than take them up, a lot of this is to do with parents not realsing their entitlement or the fact that their child only wants packed lunch anyway so they don't bother applying.

carocaro · 21/01/2010 18:15

We had to get free school meals this school year, DH redundant, both looking for jobs, nothing as yet.

I was reluctant to do it at first, horror memories of kids at my secondary having to have this big yellow ticket to hand in. Stupid in the extreme.

But, at primary it is not like this, all the payments are sorted via the office and Job Seeker Allowance people.

DS1 knows nothing about it. It has been a big help not having to write a cheque for £80 or so each half term or so. It does not seem a lot, but we hardly have any £ at the mo.

So no stigma here. We are in a leafy Cheshire market town, and the recession has hit many, there are several on free meals. And why not we have paid into the system for over 20 years each, it's payback when we need it.

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