Hundreds of thousands of pupils in England could be missing out on extra cash for their schools, according to the Department for Education.
The department has written to schools across England to make sure that children entitled to free school meals are properly registered. Schools with these children are eligible for this support and without being registered, the Government can not give schools the extra £488 per pupil funding which comes through the Pupil Premium.
Its data shows that between three to five per cent of school children could be missing out on the extra cash – which makes it between around 200,000 to 350,000 children in England. It also shows that families in the East Midlands, South East and East of England are less likely to register their children for FSM, even when they are entitled to them.
School Food Trust Chairman, Rob Rees, said: “It’s so important that schools continue do everything they can to encourage families to sign up for and take up their free school meals, and we welcome all efforts to do this. But it’s vital to remember that the most important thing about a free school meal is that it guarantees a child a tasty, nutritious lunch every day, with benefits for their health, their behaviour and their concentration in lessons. We should always encourage every qualifying child to both register for and take up that right.”
You’ll find lots of help and practical resources on improving free school meal registration and take up in our Free School Meals Matter toolkit.
