No free school meal vouchers for kids in the summer

1finny

1finny

Well-known member
Seems an odd one.
The government recognised kids needed free school meals during lockdown and organised vouchers.
Now confirmed they will not extend it in the summer.

Low cost big impact - thought it would be a good bit of PR for them to agree to it.
 
Kids have never been given Free School Meals (FSM) in school holiday times. It would definitely be helpful to continue to help parents out this way but pupils and their families know FSM stop when school is out. However just about every school I work with provides supplies to Food Banks at holiday times to try and make sure kids and their families still get access to food. Just another example of the total amount of inequality in this country.
 
Duffman said:
Kids have never been given Free School Meals (FSM) in school holiday times. It would definitely be helpful to continue to help parents out this way but pupils and their families know FSM stop when school is out. However just about every school I work with provides supplies to Food Banks at holiday times to try and make sure kids and their families still get access to food. Just another example of the total amount of inequality in this country.
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Free school meals are, or if they are not then it has only recently been stopped, served during the summer hols. because I can remember my local council publishing the names of schools where FSM were served last summer hols. They have been since at least the 60's when I was sent to Beechwood school for my lunch once. (I refused to go but never told my mam, I went hungry that day, but as I found out only recently, my parents often went without food to feed us all)
 
My local authority did it as a trial throughout the 2019 school holidays, but I don't know if they'll be keeping it up this summer.

I think that the voucher scheme has been a good idea. If you can cook, you could make that money go much further than a school kitchen can with their overheads.
 
In our school, we have more kids coming into lunch on a Friday and a Monday than any other day of the week. Staff always worry at holiday times for the students who we know will go with out.

Before the entitlement for all children to have breakfast at school, I use to run a breakfast club from out unit that I paid for out of my own pocket (toast and a warm drink). I was always amazed at the numbers and it wasn't kids being greedy.
 
Like I said, kids don't stop being hungry just because it's the summer holidays.

Another occasion where this Tory Government has needed to be dragged into a u-turn, kicking and screaming. How many times is that now?

Well done Marcus Rashford.
 
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