Shropshire parents to save £5 million in new school meal scheme
Parents across Shropshire are expected to save around £5 million thanks to a new scheme that will see primary school pupils receive free school meals.
With 5,115 children in Telford & Wrekin eligible for the scheme, parents who would previously spend an average of £400 a year on meals will make a total saving of £2 million.
Meanwhile, the 7,749 qualifying students in Shropshire will save their parents a total of £3,099,600.
All reception and Year 1 and 2 children in state-funded schools will receive a cooked meal and a dessert from the beginning of the new school year, thanks to a government initiative.
A number of schools across the county have been given new kitchens to allow them to provide their own meals, including St Lawrence Primary School in Preston upon the Weald Moors.
All other schools run by Telford & Wrekin Council have kitchens, so cookers and crockery has been upgraded.
In Shropshire Council-run schools, the policy change means a 40 per cent increase in the number of meals that will be served up.
Shire Services currently caters for 112 primary schools in Shropshire, which includes two academy schools.
It is anticipated there will be an increase of 3,192 meals served per day from September, taking the daily number of meals served in Shropshire's primary schools to 11,138.
Telford & Wrekin Councillor Paul Watling, Telford & Wrekin Council's cabinet member for children, young people and families, said: "Eating a cooked healthy meal at lunchtime is considered to benefit the health, achievement and behaviour of all children, especially infants.
"The food children eat today shapes how they will eat for the rest of their lives. Poor diets mean that too many children grow up overweight or obese.
"A cooked school lunch gives them the essential vitamins and minerals they need to help them grow, develop, fight infection and have the energy to lead a happy and healthy life.
"In Telford and Wrekin, we are absolutely committed to ensuring that all our children have access to wholesome, healthy food and that is demonstrated by our ability to provide free school meals to 100 per cent of the children that are entitled to them from September."
Ann Hartley, Shropshire Council's Cabinet member for children's services – transformation and safeguarding, said: "This new legislation will see a huge increase in the number of meals served in our schools, but I'm delighted that our schools and Shire Services are well prepared.
"Unlike many other areas, Shropshire Council has always worked hard to maintain a countywide hot school meals service and to ensure that where practicable schools in the county are able to cook fresh food on site.
"Investment in kitchens and the school meals service over the last 20 years has resulted in every school in the county continuing to have a hot school meal each day. In the vast majority of cases this meal is cooked on site in the school kitchen, with a handful of very small school receiving a meal transported from a nearby school."
Capital funding of £150 million is available nationally in 2014/15 to enable schools to upgrade kitchens and to increase dining capacity where required.
Transitional funding of £22.5 million is also being made available in 2014/15 to support small schools with up to 150 pupils on roll in addressing the particular challenges they will face.
In the 2014/15 academic year schools will receive revenue funding at a flat rate of £2.30 for each meal taken by each newly eligible pupil.
Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg – who is spearheading the new initiative – said: "Free school meals for infants will not only save families hundreds of pounds a year but will also have an impact on how a child performs in the classroom so that, regardless of their background, every child can have the best possible start in life.
"Pupils at the pilot schools who were all given free meals were found to be up to two months ahead of their peers elsewhere.
"This is one of the most progressive changes to our school system for a long time. My goal is to create a level playing field for all of our children so their success will be determined by their talents and efforts alone and not by their parents' bank balance.
"These changes will also help towards reducing childhood obesity. Currently around 20 per cent of children are already 'obese' by the time they leave primary school."
