Southwark Free Healthy School Meals
In line with Southwark council’s commitment to enable children to have ‘A great start in life’ and to lead healthy lives, any St Francis nursery or primary pupil is able to enjoy a free and healthy meal provided at school during term time.
The government funds Free School Meals (FSM), for pupils whose families receive certain benefits plus meals for any other pupil in a Reception class or a Year 1 or Year 2 class.
Southwark Council provides additional funding to schools for a ‘free healthy school meal’ for every Nursery child and Key Stage 2 pupil, so that all pupils can benefit from nutritious food every day.
Please note that when pupils move to secondary school, it’s only those who are entitled to benefits-related free school meals that will receive a free meal during term-time.
Is my child eligible for Free School Meals (FSM)?
If you’re receiving particular benefits (see below), your child/children may be entitled to receive the Free School Meal benefit. This benefit can attract a great deal of additional funding for Saint Joseph’s, so make sure you apply if your circumstances change. This additional funding is called the Pupil Premium Grant (see below).
- Income Support
- income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- the guaranteed element of Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
- Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
- Universal Credit – if you apply on or after 1 April 2018 your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)
How to apply
Please send the following details below to the office via email;
office@stfrancis.southwark.sch.uk
- Parent’s full name
- Parent’s date of birth (same as parent name given above.
- Parent’s National Insurance Number (NI) https://www.gov.uk/apply-national-insurance-number
- Address
Do I need to apply for free school meals if my child is already receiving a free meal at school through the Southwark Council funded scheme?
Yes, please.
It’s very important that you apply for Free School Meals, if you think your child may be eligible. As well as ensuring your child receives free meals provision, it will also enable St Francis to receive additional funding via the Pupil Premium Grant, totalling £1,320 per child per year. This equates to a lot of money for the school.
This extra government funding is used by us to help our children to make the best possible progress they can. We use the money to provide additional resources and educational experiences that they may not otherwise have access to, such as:
- additional staffing for additional or specialist intervention in reading, writing and maths
- small group tuition for catch-up
- speech and language therapy
- a wider range of extra-curricular activities and trips
- homework and after school activities and clubs
- a subsidy towards the cost of school trips or uniform.
