St Luke's C of E Primary School

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Free School Meals Update 18052020

Dear Parent/Carers

I hope that you and your family are well.  I am writing to update you on the extended free school meal vouchers eligibility, when the next vouchers will be requested, Magic Breakfast deliveries, Foodbank and how to contact the school.

 

Free School Meal Vouchers – National Scheme

During these challenging times, the Department for Education (DfE) want to ensure that pupils eligible for free school meals can continue to access support while they are not in school. We have been working as hard as we can to ensure that all children in receipt of Free School Meals get their entitlement.  

 

Extended Free School Meal Eligibility

The government has now agreed to extend eligibility to children from the following groups, provided their families meet the usual income threshold for free school meals:

  • Children from families who have been granted leave to remain under Article 8 of the ECHR subject to a no recourse to public funds (NRPF) restriction;
  • Children whose families have no recourse to public funds who receive support pursuant to section 17 of the Children Act 1989 from their local authority; and
  • Children of failed seeker families receiving section 4 support.
  • Children whose parents are Zambrano Carers, namely those who are non-EEA national primary carers of British Citizen children

 

A Zambrano carer is the primary carer of a British citizen child or dependent adult, where requiring the primary carer to leave the UK would force that British citizen to leave the European Economic Area (EEA).

 

They must be able to show:

  • that the carer/parent is not a British citizen
  • that the child is a British citizen
  • that the carer is a direct relative or legal guardian of the child
  • that they have primary responsibility of the child
  •  that there are no other members of the carer’s family in the UK or the EEA who could look after the child

Zambrano carers are able to work, and as such are subject to a maximum annual household earnings threshold of £7,400 to be eligible to receive free school meals.

The extension of the Covid 19: school meals policy means that thousands more children will now be able to access school meals and/or £15 weekly vouchers during the coronavirus pandemic.

The extension of free school meal eligibility to these groups will take place immediately. It will end when schools have reopened to all children i.e. you will need to pay for school meals when the school re-opens.

If you feel that the above criteria relates to your personal circumstances, kindly contact the school to discuss this further.

 

Free School Meals Vouchers

As you are aware, when all the schools were shut down, St Luke’s offered parents free meals to be collected from the school each day and then when the kitchen was closed, parents were offered a hamper.  Since then we have ordered vouchers valuing £75 per child entitled to Free School Meal. 

This week we will be ordering a further £60 per child for a further months’ worth of vouchers. 

Free School Meals Entitlement

Due to the Coronavirus, your circumstances may have changed.

  • Your child may be able to get free school meals if you get 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)

If you are not sure if your child is entitled to free school meals, then complete a check at the following London Grid of Learning site available to our parents: https://pps.lgfl.org.uk/

 

Magic Breakfast delivery

Magic Breakfast is supplying free breakfast deliveries to some of your homes via Amazon.  The delivery contains a pack of bagels, cereal or porridge, baked beans and a voucher for 2 litres of milk per child at St Luke’s School.  Allergens and ingredients are listed on each packet/tin.  This delivery should be every two weeks and is delivered to your door, which is why the school must have permission to give your details to Magic Breakfast. 

If you have been added to the delivery list and you will remain on the list until Magic Breakfast are no longer able to deliver or you inform the school that you no longer require the breakfasts.

Although Magic Breakfast cannot offer this service to everyone, you do not need to be entitled to Free School Meals to receive it.  If you require this service, please let the school know.

 

Foodbank Vouchers

The Foodbank is for people who are in real crisis, so those for whom benefits have stopped, those who are waiting for benefits and have no other income to reply on, redundancy or excessive debt.

Please note that the Foodbank is not open at St Luke’s Church at the moment. However, they are delivering food if requested.

If you require a Foodbank voucher, please contact the school.

 

Contacting the School

As you are aware, the Parent Portal/App invitations were sent on Friday to nearly all the parents.  If we have not received an up to date email address or if we have no email address listed for you, we were unable to send you the invitation.  We had 34% usage since Friday so thank you very much.  If you have not already done so please sign up. 

 

If you would like to contact the school office, please use the In-App message via Arbor instead of Class Dojo, this is easier for the school office to monitor and respond to. 

 

For teachers, please use Class Dojo or Google Classroom. 

Yours sincerely,

 

Nicky Zeronian-Dalley

Executive Headteacher

 

FSM Vouchers 17052020.pdf