With the cost of living on people’s minds, many parents and carers may be wondering if they are eligible for free school meals to help with household budgets.
People can check their eligibility for free school meals by visiting: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/education-learning/apply-free-school-meals
Receiving free school meals will not only help with family finances, but it also brings with it access to activities in school holidays. Children aged 4 to 16 getting benefits-related free school meals get access to activities and at least one healthy meal per session during the school holidays as part of the Holiday and Food (HAF) programme.
Many schools in our region have healthy and delicious school meals provided by Educaterers. Parents and guardians can have complete confidence in the expertise of the firm which provides more than 120,000 meals a week in over 200 primary schools in Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Oxfordshire, Birmingham, Coventry, and Staffordshire. Its fully trained staff understand the diverse needs of pupils and the company’s systems means that children receiving Free School Meals do not stand out from the crowd.
Educaterers is a friend of Warwickshire County Council’s innovative Child Friendly Warwickshire programme - a collective mission to create opportunities and lasting, positive change for children and young people.
Applying for a free school meal will also benefit your school. For every child that receives a free school meal, the school receives extra funding as part of the Pupil Premium. This additional cash helps your school provide more support and activities for pupils.
Vicki Barnard, Managing Director of Educaterers, said: “We believe every child deserves access to healthy and delicious food, and we’re committed to meeting their nutritional needs with high-quality, tasty meals. For some children and young people, free school meals are their main source of hot, nutritious food. Healthy meals at school help enable all children to have the same opportunities to learn and thrive.”
The benefits of a healthy school meal are numerous:
- A healthy balanced meal helps children to concentrate and learn better.
- Eating around a table at school helps children to socialise.
- There’s no need to worry about what food you have suitable for a packed lunch.
- Children are more likely to develop healthy eating habits and are less prone to become overweight.