This article has been brought to you by Slough Borough Council's Systems & School Support Manager, Paul Brotherton, for the attention of FSM Administrators, School Business Managers and Headteachers.
An update has been shared directly with free school meal administrators in member SLA schools, however, please see below important information relating to free school meal vouchers during the summer holidays.
The government have confirmed families of children eligible for benefit related free school meals will be able to claim a £90 voucher covering the 6 week summer holiday period (£105 if a school’s summer holiday lasts 7 full weeks.)
These must be ordered by schools from the COVID Summer Food Fund and not the national voucher scheme. However, we understand these vouchers are still ordered via the Edenred portal.
The guidance states the deadline for schools to order these vouchers is one week before a school’s summer term ends.
Full DfE guidance for schools relating to the COVID Summer Food Fund can be found here. We would strongly encourage you to review this information as soon as possible, continue to monitor it, and decide when you will place your voucher order.
To clarify, the government have not given local authorities any level of access to the Edenred portal. As such we are unable to support schools using it, nor are we able to support parents in relation to issues with their vouchers. Please direct all queries related to accessing the national voucher scheme or COVID summer food fund on Edenred as follows:
- Enquiries from schools | freeschoolmeals@edenred.com
- Enquiries from parents/carers | freeschoolmealsparentscarers@edenred.com
The Edenred website also contains user guides and FAQs as follows: