Tick off Bronze and Silver for... Maximising free school meal take-up

 25 January 2011 – Sending letters and claim forms about free school meal entitlement to parents can help maximise the take up of free schools meals.

 Criteria

• We monitor school meal take up and we are taking action to maximise the take up of free school meals (Bronze)
• We ensure take up of school meals by pupils registered for free school meals is 90% or higher, and we are taking action to raise general school meal take up. (Silver)

Resources

Need help monitoring your school meal take up? Email Julia Cassell for a School Food Trust meals tracker, which helps you to calculate your school’s annual take up figures. Her email address is jcassell@soilassociation.org

Case studies

Two schools in areas of high unemployment increased their free school meal take up after sending letters home. Read the case study.

Increasing the take up of school meals

Silver School Haworth Primary found increasing numbers to be particularly challenging but after introducing a few, simple initiatives, 50% of its pupils now enjoy a school dinner. Read the case study.