Meals

At St James the Great Academy, we use the services of Autograph for the delivery of our healthy and nutritious school meals. The cost of each meal is £2.40, which must be paid for in advance for the week ahead. There are two ways of paying for meals: either cash or credit/debit card to the school office OR online at http://www.schoolmoney.co.uk.

Over the past few months, we have been working closely with Autograph to ensure the successful implementation of the government’s new initiative: ‘Universal Infant Free School Meals’ (UIFSM) UIFSMs mean that from September 2014, families with children in R, Yr1 and Yr2 will no longer need to pay the daily fee for a school meal. For children in Years 3 through to 6, the need to pay the daily fee remains, unless the family are in receipt of a free school meal via pupil premium funding, based on household income.

HOWEVER, the need to ensure that all families continue to register for a free school meal, based on household income, regardless of the new UIFSM programme, is critical. If families only apply for the meal via the UIFSM agenda, then as an academy we only receive the £2.30 funding which we then have to use for the school meal. If families who are eligible for pupil premium based on household income, continue to register in the usual way, then we receive £1300 per pupil which can then be used to help pay for all school meals, some trips, as well as excellent additional educational support. The process for applying for a free school meal via pupil premium is now easier than ever, either by applying directly online at http://www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/schools/free-school-meals OR by coming into the school office, for confidential support and guidance from Mrs Hynard.