Free School Meals & Financial Support
Free School Meals
Statutory Free School Meals for those children who are eligible under the statutory free school meal criteria. This is what you complete a free school meal form for each November - so that we can check your details and eligibility for this provision.
Go here to check online if you are eligible.
Qualification for a statutory free school meals is predicated on the parent(s) being in receipt of any of the following:
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- The Guarantee element of State Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit, provided they are not entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual income of £16,190 or less
- Working Tax Credit 'run-on' - the payment someone may receive for a further four weeks after they stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit.
- Universal Credit (provided their annual net earned income does not exceed £7,400, as assessed by earnings from up to three of the most recent monthly assessment periods)
Children for whom we have received confirmation from the benefits team will be contacted by the school to inform them of the service the school is offering. If you have not received any communication from us then your child is not in receipt of statutory free school meal funding.
Mayors Free school meal (children aged Y3-Y6)
If your child is in Years 3 - 6 (and not eligible for statutory free school meals), they receive a school meal which is paid for by the Mayor of Tower Hamlets.
Universal Free School Meal
If your child is in Reception - Year 2 (and not eligible for statutory free school meals), they receive a free school meal paid for by the government.
If you feel that you meet the eligibility criteria for statutory free school meals and are not currently on our list, you will need to contact the benefits team to update your details.
You can contact them online at the website or on 0207 364 5000
Go here to check online if you are eligible.
Food Bank
Find a list of food banks here.
We know that the family income for many households will have been affected during this time and you may need support with essentials for a while. St Luke's church (on Alpha Grove) has a food bank that is open on Monday - Thursday, 10am - 12 midday.
They deliver on Mondays and Thursdays (across the Isle of Dogs) and are open for collections on Tuesday and Wednesday. They don't require you to prove that you need their help, but simply ask you to register your details with them.
Please do make use of this service and contact us at school if we can help to put you in touch with Fuzz. You can also contact them on 020 7538 9862. If you would like to donate to the food bank, we are sure that Fuzz would be delighted so please drop anything off during the opening hours.
Residents' Support Scheme
The Residents' Support Scheme is designed to help residents who are either in or at risk of being in crisis or are in need of immediate help and have no source of financial support available to them.