All children in reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are eligible for free school meals, regardless of their family's circumstances. Please see the letter below for more information.
Children in Years 3 to 6 whose family is eligible must apply to benefit from free school meals.
It is important that children in reception, Year 1 and Year 2 whose family is eligible for free school meals as they progress through the school apply as soon as possible as this will mean the school getting Pupil Premium funding which is additional funding.
Pupil Premium Funding
The pupil premium is additional funding given to state-funded schools in England to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and close the gap between them and their peers.
There are 4 elements to pupil premium:
- Free school meal eligibility including those who are no longer eligible for FSM, but who have been eligible in the last 6 years
- Service children
- Children adopted from care, special guardianship order and residence order
- Children in care
Any qualifying family that registers their eligibility (based on the free school meal criteria) will help raise pupil premium money for the school.
Do I need to apply for pupil premium? (based on free school meal criteria)
You only need to apply if you have a child in reception, year 1 or year 2 and both of the following apply:
- you do not have an existing free school meal claim
- you are in receipt of any of the qualifying benefits (see School meals for a list of the qualifying benefits)
How to apply
Through the Citizen Portal which is the quickest and easiest way to apply and will result in you getting an instant decision.
Parents and carers can also ring the Education Helpline on 0345 155 1019.
How we use the funding
We use a three year Pupil Premium strategy, as recommended by the Department for Education, which is reviewed annually.
Please read the information below which gives details of our Pupil Premium Grant and how we allocate the funding.