Free School Meals
Your child may be eligible for Free School Meals
If you receive any of the following benefits and your child is not already registered with Borough of Poole (the school is within the Borough of Poole so all claims must be made via that local authority even if your home address is within a different local authority), you can apply online via this link:
Is my child eligible for free school meals?
Free school meals are available for children whose parents receive:
• Income Support
• Jobseeker’s Allowance (income based)
• Employment and Support Allowance (income based)
• Child Tax Credit based on an income below £16,190 (only if you are not in receiving Working Tax Credit)
• The Guarantee element of State Pension Credit
• Asylum Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• Working Tax Credit ‘run-on’ (you might receive this for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)
• Universal Credit with an annual net earned income of no more than £7,400
Children who receive Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance in their own right qualify as well.
Who does not qualify?
Families who receive any level of Working Tax Credit are not entitled to free school meals.
How does it work?
When the school receives confirmation from the Borough of Poole that your child is eligible for Free School Meals and for as long as they remain eligible, the daily Free School Meal allowance is added to your child’s SIMS Agora account.
As we aim to be a ‘cashless’ school, students can spend this allowance (plus any further funds you add to their account, up to the daily limit) using the thumb or finger biometric data they have registered; this is the same for all students regardless of whether they are eligible for Free School Meals or not. Unspent Free School Meal money is cleared from student accounts at the end of each day, it does not accumulate.
Did you know that by claiming Free School Meals you can get extra money for your child’s school?
Where a child qualifies for Free School Meals because their Parent is in receipt of one of the benefits above the school will receive additional funding in the form of the Link: Pupil Premium.
What other ways could the school receive additional funding in the form of Pupil Premium?
Adopted children - children adopted from care or who have left care
If your child was ever in care, looked after by an English or Welsh local authority immediately before being adopted, or who left local authority care on a special guardianship order or child arrangements order (previously known as a residence order), if you advise the school, we will receive additional funding to help raise the attainment of disadvantaged students of all abilities to reach their potential.
Service children
The service pupil premium is extra funding for schools to support children and young people with parents in the armed forces.
Pupils attract the premium if they meet the following criteria:
- one of their parents is serving in the regular armed forces
- one of their parents died while serving in the armed forces and the pupil receives a pension under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) or the War Pensions Scheme (WPS)