Free School Meals and Pupil Premium
What are ‘universal free school meals for infants’?
If your child is in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2 they will automatically be able to receive a free school meal. This is called the ‘universal free school meal’.
What is the Pupil Premium?
Families who have made an application and been accepted for free school meals, or have been in the past 6 years, are also entitled to the Pupil Premium, a sum of money that goes directly to school. In addition to a free school meal this premium gives the school extra money to support your child’s education through its Pupil Premium whole school action plan.
Click here for pupil premium background information
How will the Pupil Premium help my family?
If you are in receipt of FSM or have been in the past 6 years, your child could get:
Free ‘cool milk’ in school at break times
A contribution towards school uniform costs
Funding for swimming lessons / Funding for residential visits.
How do I qualify for Free School Meals if my child is not in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2?
Your child may be able to get free school meals if you get any of the following:
- 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) If my child receives an ‘infant free school meal’, should I still apply for free school meals and hence the Pupil Premium? This is very important and often overlooked by parents. For children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 who already receive the ‘universal free school meal’, they should most definitely apply for “free school meals” if you meet the criteria above. As mentioned, this gives the school extra money to support your child’s education through its Pupil Premium whole school action plan.
*If your application is successful then your child will receive a free school meal amongst other benefits, whilst the school will receive the Pupil Premium, enabling further support to all children through the Pupil Premium whole school action plan
How do I apply for Free School Meals?
In order for school to receive this extra funding, parents must complete and application form. If you are unsure if this applies to your family or would like some help with applying, please contact the school office. Please follow this link to find out more: https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/free-school-meals
For further details on how we have spent our Pupil Premium funding, please see the grant reports below:
Pupil Premium Strategy Statement 21.22 – 23.24
Pupil Premium Strategy Statement 2021 – 2022
Pupil-Premium-Strategy-Statement-2020-2021
Pupil-Premium-Strategy statement – 2018-2019