Universal free school meals expanded to include P5 children
PRIMARY 5 pupils across Moray will be entitled to receive free school meals from 10 January 2022 as part of the Scottish Government’s £28 million commitment to free school meal support.
In August 2021, the offering was expanded to include P4 children meaning that all P1-P4 pupils across Moray are currently eligible for free school meal support.
The expansion to include P5 children will be completed automatically and there is no need for parents/carers to complete any paperwork. We recommend that any credit on P5 accounts is used up beforehand and ask that any outstanding balances are cleared before the end of December.
Primary school children eligible for free school meals will be credited with a daily allowance within the cashless catering system. Meantime, you can continue paying for meals using our online payment system. Payment by cheque and cash is still be available, however we recommend the use of online payment where possible. Any cheques should be made payable to Moray Council.
Moray Council’s Head of Education Resources and Communities, Jo Shirriffs, said that the expansion will ensure that more Moray children will have access to healthy and nourishing school meals.
“We are committed to delivering healthy free school meals to children across Moray and continually look at our menu options to provide choices that children like – as well as being nutritionally balanced and compliant with legislation.
“Where possible we use locally produced ingredients and the majority of our meals are cooked from raw ingredients in our school kitchens.”
Information on the expansion of universal free school meals to include P6 and P7 children will be provided in 2022.
More information on free school meals and eligibility can be found on our website: http://www.moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/page_55486.html