Free School Meals

It is important for children to have a good nutritious meal at lunchtime. If parents/carers can’t afford school dinners their children may be eligible for free school meals.

We have teamed up with a consortium of local schools to provide an online application for free school meals which gives an immediate response to our parents and carers. The online form is accessible from any PC or on a mobile phone Internet browser. If you do not have access to either, please give me a call and I can submit an online application on your behalf. There is no longer a need to complete a paper form or provide us with paper proof of entitlement.

The information provided to process your claim for free school meals will be used to verify your initial, and ongoing, entitlement. The information may also be used to ensure accuracy of records across the local authority and to check against fraud.

In light of the government benefit changes you could be eligible for free, tasty meals for your children if you or your partner gets either:

• Universal Credit (provided you have an annual net earned income of no more than £7,400, as assessed by earnings from up to three of your most recent assessment periods)
• 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 guarantee element of Pension Credit
• Child tax credit with an annual gross income into the household that is no more than £16,190, provided you are NOT entitled to working tax credit. If you are entitled to any part of working tax credit there is NO eligibility with the exception of working tax run-on as shown below
• Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

To complete an online application you will need:

• Your own name and date of birth and contact details
• National Insurance Number or National Asylum Seekers Number
• Child's name and date of birth

Please click here to start your free application:

https://www.cloudforedu.org.uk/ofsm/ofsm-east

It costs you nothing to apply and it tells you straight away if you are entitled to free school meals. If it finds an eligible benefit it returns 'Benefit found and eligible'.

If it returns ‘Not Found (ECS No Trace)’, please check the data you have entered, particularly the spelling of your name, your date of birth, your National Insurance Number and your address and submit your application again.

If it does not find an eligible benefit, it will return 'Benefit not found'.

The value of a free school meal is £2.50 per day and may be used at either break time or at lunch time.

If you are already in receipt of free school meals at KES you do not have to re-apply.