Pupil Premium & Free School Meals

From September 2014 all children who are in reception, year 1 or year 2 in a state-funded school will be offered a free healthy school lunch.  Children in other school years will also be offered a free school lunch if their parent is receiving any of the welfare benefits listed below:

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Support from NASS (National Asylum Support Service) under part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• the guarantee element of State Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (with no Working Tax Credit) with an annual income of no more than £16,190
• Working Tax Credit run-on
• Universal Credit.

Registering could raise money for your child’s school

Registering for free meals could raise an extra £1,300 for your child’s school, to fund valuable support like extra tuition, additional teaching staff or after school activities. We will be able to provide subsidised after school clubs and school trips.

This additional money is available from central government for every child whose parent is receiving one of the welfare benefits listed in the form. It is therefore important to sign up for free school meals, even if your child is in reception, year 1 or year 2, so that your child’s school receives as much funding as possible.

Your application is confidential – if you think you may be eligible please do apply.

How the information will be used

The information you provide  will be used by the council to confirm receipt of one of the listed welfare benefits.  Once this is confirmed, this helps to decide how much money your child’s school will receive each year.

The information will also be used in relation to children in year 3 or above to decide whether they are eligible for free school meals.

You only need to apply once and it will last for the duration of your child’s time at their current school.