Nursery World - Nursery Food: School meals

The recent expansion of free school meals has presented
difficulties for many, but schools are finding ways to make it work. Katy Morton reports

Millions of infant pupils are now receiving free school meals under the Government's flagship policy. However, the scheme has not been without its problems, forcing many schools to come up with creative solutions to what could otherwise have been a logistical nightmare.

As of September, all children in Reception and Years 1 and 2, the equivalent of 1.5 million pupils, became eligible for free school meals. Previously only children from families on benefits were entitled to free school dinners.

The Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) scheme followed an independent Government review of school food, which found too many meals had little or no nutritional value and take-up of meals was low.

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