Source: City of Westminster
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Deputy London Mayor for Children and Families, Joanne McCartney visits St Joseph’s School in Maida Vale
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She hears from teachers, parents and students about positive impact of free school lunches
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Combined with the Mayor’s funding, Westminster funds free school lunches for all Westminster children aged 3-14
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The council also funds extra provision for children during the school holidays and school uniforms for families most in need
This week, parents, students and staff at St Joseph’s Primary School in Maida Vale discussed free school lunches with top London leader, Joanne McCartney.
The Deputy London Mayor for Children and Families heard from the school population about the positive impact of universal free school lunches on attendance, learning, wellbeing and equity.
In January 2023, Westminster City Council was one of the first local authorities in the UK to launch its free lunch offer in primary schools to help families struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.
Following this, the Mayor of London funded a free lunch offer for all primary aged students across London.
This allowed the council to extend its own funding to provide free school lunches to nursery aged children and Westminster secondary school children in years 7, 8 and 9 – which is still in place now.
Cllr Aicha Less, Cabinet Member for Children and Public Protection who joined the Deputy Mayor at St Joseph’s Primary School said:
Free school lunches have offered a lifeline to struggling families during a time of soaring food and energy prices. We want all children in Westminster to have the best start in life, and it was great to see the children at St. Joseph’s enjoying their time at school today. Over the past two years, by combining our funding with the Mayor of London’s, we’ve enabled every Westminster child aged between 3 and 14 to receive a free, nutritious lunch supporting families who need it, and meaning children can focus on their learning at school so they can thrive and improve their overall health and wellbeing.
Despite the introduction of universal free school lunches during term time, it is still incredibly important for eligible families to sign up for benefits-related Free School Meals (FSM) as this enables families to access further support during the school holidays.
The council provides supermarket vouchers for all FSM families during the holidays.
During the Summer, Winter and Easter holidays, FSM families can access free activities and a meal offer through the HAF (Holiday Activity and Food) programme funded by the Department of Education.
The council then funds an equivalent of the HAF programme during all half term holidays to ensure families have continuous access to enriching activities and healthy meals.
For the last two years, the council also provides funding for school uniforms for FSM eligible families. A parent can get £150 towards the cost of a secondary school uniform for a child starting Year 7 and £31 for a child due to start in Reception from September.