Shropshire school heads in call to save hot meals
Headteachers across Shropshire have called for the retention of hot school meals at every school in the county.
The plea comes after Shropshire Council warned more than 60 of the county’s 131 primary schools could have to axe hot meals by April because of budget shortfalls.
Schools will have to apply directly to the Government for funding which will be calculated on how many pupils they have and how many are eligible for free meals.
It will mean about half of the county schools face a shortfall that could lead them to scrap school meals.
Sandra Irish, headteacher at St John the Baptist Church at Ruyton-XI-Towns, called for hot meals to be safeguarded.
Mrs Irish said: “We don’t know a great deal about the changes yet but I would be sorry to see any school lose its hot meal service. They are an important part of the children’s day and it is important that children get a good meal. Out of 140 pupils we have, 90 take school meals.”
Sara Andrew, office manager at Pontesbury School, which has 192 pupils, said: “I would hope as one of the larger rural schools our schools meals service will be safe but in general it is a worry.”
Clunbury School said staff were not yet sure how the proposal would affect it, adding that the school received the meals in an arrangement with another school.
Paul Thompson, headteacher at Bryn Offa School in Pant, said: “I would be reluctant to lose our hot school meals.”
Richard Pallett, headteacher of Ellesmere Primary, said: “Losing hot meals would be the last option.”
Rachel Etterley, school business manager at Whitchurch Junior School, said: “We do not know what alternatives Shropshire Council will offer until we have briefings next week.”
Comments for: "Shropshire school heads in call to save hot meals"
Phill
How can Shropshire Council justify these cuts and in return double the allowances of 6 councillors who are already earning a ridiculous amount of money.
db
So True ...
CDC
Has Shropshire Council gone mad.,Justification for the increases to the selected councillors cannot ring true considering the state of finances including school meals.It used to be an honour to be a councillor now it is a business. Things have to change or there will be definite changes at the next council elections.
GK
On this occasion it seems this is not down to Shropshire Council as it is due to a change by national government to the way school meals funding is distributed, and is not something Shropshire Council has had any say over. Instead of funding going to the Council which then provides the service to schools across the County, schools have to apply directly and will receive the funds based on pupil numbers and then have to decide how to provide meals. For some smaller schools it is possible that the funding received will not be enough to maintain the current service. It appears to be a consequence, intended or not, of the govenment's desire to strip powers away from local authorities apparently without much thought as to how it will work in practice. Spare a thought perhaps for the hard working school meals staff who now face a period of uncertainty about the future of their jobs.
One also wonders how many schools will be able to afford school meals from the Council when the Council's new Company is set up and focussed on profit generation....
gazza
same old tories
locally and nationally they know the price of everything and the true value of nothing
cjeb
School dinners are essential to some children. I used to be a child who had free school dinners on and off during my schooling. As one of four children, my parents couldn't always afford food, often with my parents skipping their own meals to ensure we had food. Our school dinners were sometimes the only hot meal we had. If those of you who remember the resession in the late 80s, times were tough. This situation is still the same for some kids. Scraping school meals can impact the health of children, especially from poorer backgrounds. Look at the need for food banks to show the state some people are in