Important – Are you eligable? Free school meals claiming process

3rd April 2020LEANNE MOSS

Are you eligible to claim Free School Meals?

Parents who receive certain benefits are eligible to apply for free school meals for their child.

Eligibility

Children may be able to get free school meals if their parent/carer gets at least one of the following:

  • Universal Credit (as long as 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 Jobseekers Allowance
  • Income Related Employment and Support Allowance
  • The Guaranteed Element of Pension Credit
  • Support under part V1 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
  • Child Tax Credit – provided you are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income as assessed by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs of no more than £16,190
  • A ‘run-on’ of Working Tax Credit (paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)

If you’re currently getting Working Tax Credit, or if you have a partner who is getting Working Tax Credit, regardless of your income, you won’t qualify for free school meals.

Post-16 students

Post-16 students can get free school meals if they attend a sixth form based in Middlesbrough. If your child attends a further education college, they should apply for free meals by contacting the college directly.

Universal infant free school meals

All children in Key Stage One (which includes reception, year one, and year two) are entitled to free school meals. Parents who are on benefits and meet the eligibility criteria above are encouraged to apply for additional funding known as Pupil Premium. This funding will help increase your child’s attainment as well as being used to fund valuable support within the school.

How to claim free school meals

You can claim free school means by:

What happens next

Once your claim has been assessed, a letter will be sent to let you know the outcome. If you qualify for free school meals, we’ll tell your child’s school.

Contact us

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 01642 726541
Post:
Free School Meals
PO Box 2
Middlesbrough
TS1 2YL

Please click here visit the Middlesbrough Council Website

Application form – Benefits-free_school_meals_application

Support during COVID – 19 – Programmes and courses for parents

2nd April 2020LEANNE MOSS

Please find below a list of courses and programmes that will offer you support. We hope you find them very useful.

Free online parenting support – (Understanding pregnancy, labour, birth and your baby / Understanding your baby / Understanding your child / Understanding your teenager’s brain) – Enter the access code BORO

Netmums FREE Online Parenting Course

Family Links:

Parent Zone – free downloads for parents

News Hub

Middlesbrough Community Learning –  FREE online courses available over a wide range of topics

Empowering Families:FREE emotions toolkit webinar for parents – Thursday 2nd April at 8pm.

Open University – FREE Courses

Centre for Industry Education Collaboration

1st April 2020LEANNE MOSS
Supporting parents

In these unprecedented times, we have decided to change the focus of our blog posts to make them parent facing.  I hope this will make life a little easier and more interesting for families with primary aged children.

I would appreciate it if you could find the time to send a link of our latest blog to parents, or post it on your website.  If you are not based in a school, please do share with head teachers or science subject leaders on our behalf.
We are working hard to provide activities in a parent-friendly format, and welcome your feedback and ideas for further blog posts.

 

Check out our latest blog above which is “Fantastic Fungi”
Research Survey – Using Augmented Reality to teach Primary Science 

I’d like to share a message from a colleague at York St John University:

“I would like to invite you to take part in a very brief research survey to collect data around ‘Sciences taught in Primary Schools’ and where the use of ‘Augmented Reality’ may benefit and support teachers.  

I would very much appreciate it if you could take the time to complete this short survey, which should take no more than 10 minutes to complete. The survey asks for no identifying information, and all responses will be completely anonymous.  There is also the opportunity to win a prize draw of £50 science equipment if you include your email address.

If you would be happy to complete the survey, please follow the link https://forms.gle/8j7M4eTATq8U9HWz5”

 

Warren Fearn

School of Art, Design and Computer Science