Lunches for all infant aged pupils are free under the Universal Free School Lunch scheme (UIFSM), however some of our families are also entitled to a benefit called Free School Meals (FSM).
In the Infant School this gives eligibility for Pupil Premium funding which is used by the school to fund valuable support like extra tuition, additional teaching staff or after school activities. Please click here to see our Pupil Premium page for further information on how the school spends the pupil premium funding it receives.
Any pupil eligible for Free School Meals will be protected until 31st March 2025, meaning that this may continue into the junior school where you would normally start to pay for your child’s lunches.
Your child may be able to get free school meals if you get any of the following:
Children who get paid these benefits directly, instead of through a parent or guardian, can also get free school meals.
If you fit any of the above criteria and therefore think you may be eligible, then you can check by going online to https://pps.lgfl.org.uk/ and clicking on “Check Eligibility”.
You will need a USO Account. If you applied to our school through e-admissions you will already have one of these and can use the same user name and password. Everyone else can set up a new account, and the system will guide you through the process.
Through your USO Account, you can then link all your children to the account (regardless of which school they go to). Alternatively, if you work in another LGfL School you can use your normal USO login and again link your children.
Once checked the school will then be able to see your status, and will add your name to the list of those eligible. As a thank you for taking the time to make the check, LGFL (London Grid for Learning) are offering free Antivirus software to use at home, regardless of the outcome.
If you have any problems with the process, please use the FAQ section of the website in the first instance as this will answer any questions you may have.
With the current cost of living crisis the government is providing funding for additional vouchers to support households with their household costs, as well as the provision of free holiday camps (BACE Holiday).
BACE Holiday
Barnet Active Creative Engaging Holidays (BACE Holidays) is a scheme run by Barnet Council and Young Barnet Foundation, paid for by the Department of Education.
Children, who are entitled to benefits related free school meals, are issued with a code so they can book holiday activities with an emphasis on physical, emotional and nutritional wellbeing during the school holidays.
For full details go to BACE HOLIDAYS
The school issues the voucher codes to parents through a system called "Holiday Activities" when instructed to do so by Barnet Council, but generally a few weeks before the longer school holidays.
Household Support Fund
Once again the government has provided local authorities across England with funding to support families most in need to help with significantly rising living costs. The fund will support households who would struggle to meet food and energy bills without support initial for the winter months of October 2022 - March 2023, this has now been extended.
The London Borough of Barnet issue schools with money for them to send supermarket vouchers to parents of children who are entitled to benefit related Free School Meals.
For further information about how Barnet Council supports families through the Household Support Fund please go to Barnet Household Support Fund
At Brookland Infant and Nursery School we use an online system Evouchers.com | Simplifying School Vouchers (previously known as schoolvouchers.com) to issue these to our parents.
All eligible parents will be sent an email by the system and are asked to register, once registered they are able to redeem their vouchers for a supermarket voucher of choice - they can also download an app which makes the process easier.
There is also a helpful video below which takes you through the process - including how to access your voucher once you have redeemed it for a supermarket gift card: