Reception, year 1 and year 2

The government's school food plan provides funding for government-funded primary schools in England to offer a free lunch to every child in their reception classes, year 1 and year 2.

Year 3 and above

Your child may be able to get free school meals if you receive any of the following:

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• the guaranteed element of Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
• Working Tax Credit run-on: paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
• Universal Credit: if you apply on or after 1 April 2018, your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)

Applying for free school meals

We use the online free school meals (OFSM) eligibility checking service.  The site is safe and secure, and once registered, you will not have to do anything else the whole time your child is at Longmoor.  Please click the following link and complete the online form: 

https://www.cloudforedu.org.uk

To apply, you will be required to provide the following details:

• your National Insurance Number or National Asylum Support Service Reference Number
• your family name
• your date of birth

We encourage ALL parents to register their details with the OFSM checking system, regardless of your circumstances, as even if you do not think you qualify now, the system carries out regular checks, meaning that any future changes in circumstances are picked up quickly and easily.  

Pupil premium funding

Pupil premium funding is additional funding for schools to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in England.

Pupil premium is not a personal budget allocated to individual eligible pupils. It's funding awarded to schools based on the number of eligible pupils on roll. It is at the discretion of the school leaders to determine how best to spend the pupil premium within the requirements of the conditions set by the government.

The link between free school meals and pupil premium funding

All infant pupils are entitled to free school meals. However, it's still important that schools know which infant pupils meet the benefit criteria for free school meals. This is because the school receives pupil premium and formula funding based on the number of pupils that are eligible for free school meals, and parents benefit from additional support, such as subsidised trips and uniform vouchers.