Dear Parent / Carer,

Free School Meals (FSM) and Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) is additional funding for your child's schooling. If entitled your child would be entitled to Free School Meals the term after their 3rd birthday—children under three will incur a daily charge for lunches as this benefit doesn’t apply for children under 3 but it is beneficial for us to know as early as possible if your child is entitled.

Eligibility of FSM and EYPP:

Your child may be eligible for 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)

 

What the service does for parents:

After entering essential details into the website, the online application process links to the Department for Education system for checking eligibility and gives an immediate ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response, and will notify the school. This system is being provided to encourage parents to apply and take advantage of free school meals while at the same time increasing the benefit to schools from Pupil Premium funding, a substantial amount of which does not reach schools because not all parents who are eligible apply for free meals for their child.

Who can do the check;

Parents can do the check themselves at www.fsm.lgfl.net or by giving permission for the School Business Manager to use information contained in your parent declaration form that you complete during registration, the information used would be surname, date of birth and National Insurance Number. If you would like the school to do the check for you please email  mcampbell@abbeywood-nur,greenwich.sch.uk marking the email subject as FSM checker. Please include your child's name and date of birth in the main body of the email. Once the check has been made you will receive written confirmation on whether your application was successful or not.