http://www.caerffili.gov.uk/Services/Schools-and-learning/School-dinners-and-breakfast-clubs/Free-school-meals

Dear Parents and Carers

Free School Meals

I am writing to ask you to consider whether your child may be eligible for free school meals. If your child is eligible for free school meals it means they can enjoy delicious, healthy meals without the bills and the fuss of making packed lunches. Many children at our school are already eating free school meals, and your child may be able to have them too. School meals will give your child a real appetite for learning and help them to achieve their full potential.

There is nothing healthier for your child and your family’s budget than free school meals. As professional cooks prepare the meals for your child, it saves you having to worry about the effort and expense of making packed lunches every day.

Your child may be entitled to receive free school meals if you are entitled to receive one of the following:

• Income Support 
• Income-Related Employment and Support Allowance
• Income-Based Job Seekers Allowance
• Child Tax Credit (but no Working Tax Credit is being received by the claimant or his/her partner and the combined annual income as assessed by HMIR on a TC602 form is not above £16,190)
• The Guaranteed Element of Pension Tax Credit.
• Asylum Seeker under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999

If you pay for your child to have school meals you could save around £580 per year if your child qualifies for free school meals.

If you access free school meals you will also be entitled to a one-off clothing grant of £105 for your child when they are moving from primary school to their first year of secondary school.

Think of the time you would save if your child is eligible and has free school meals instead of packed lunches, you could save up to 190 hours a year, which is the time needed to make packed lunches that meet the nutritional standards of school meals – that’s just over a week!

Our school will also receive £1050 additional funding for every child registered for Free School Meals.  This funding must be directly targeted at Free School Meal pupils.  This year we have used that additional funding for:

• To provide 1-1 and group support for pupils through deploying staff to provide catch up literacy and numeracy schemes-Number Recovery, Launch into Literacy and Numeracy Catch-up .
• Targeted intervention project using ICT resources to raise standards of literacy.
• Training of all staff in literacy and assessment for learning  strategies to improve pupil engagement.
• Participating in a transition PLC with Cwm Rhymni to ensure wellbeing of year 5 and 6 pupils when moving into year 7.
• Family Engagement project.

I am writing to all parents and carers to ask them to make a claim if they believe that they may be entitled to claim free school meals for their children and do not already do so. Our catering team provides an excellent range of healthy lunch options that are enjoyed daily by a significant number of our pupils. Your child may well be able to access these free of charge.

To make sure that your child does not miss out, please complete the form on the Newsletter Page for your children or online at www.caerphilly.gov.uk or if you are not sure, please contact Catering Services on 01495 235262 (or email catering@caerphilly.gov.uk). A member of the team will be able to advise you. 

Yours sincerely

Headteacher