Financial Support
The recent economic climate is likely to have impacted everyone in one way or another. As a school, we are conscious of this and constantly review all activities and expectations where there is a cost to parents (uniform, trips etc). Alongside this, we have also recently undertaken a review of our existing support mechanisms that are in place to support parents with these costs.
The letter attached below outlines Key changes that we are making as a school to further enhance the support we are able to offer families with the ongoing school costs in the current financial climate. These changes have already been agreed and are in place as of 1st April 2024 (the beginning of the 2024-25 Financial Year). *Residential visits as of September 2024
At Ashwell School we remain committed to providing ALL children with an extensive range of opportunities through both Curriculum Enrichment and Extra-Curricular activities.
Accessing further information
Parents are more than welcome to contact the school if they would like to talk in confidence about their child’s eligibility for the Free School Meals / Pupil Premium or how we use this funding. Mrs Bowen, our School Business Manager can help you if you have any questions. You can contact her via the school office or admin@ashwell.herts.sch.uk
Universal Free School Meals
Children in reception, year 1 and year 2
Your child is eligible for universal infant free school meals if they are in either Reception, Year 1 or Year 2.
School milk in Reception, year 1 and year 2 - schools provide free milk for all children, up until their 5th birthday. If it's during the term, they won't get free milk from that term onwards. After that, most children who have registered for free school meals can continue to get free milk, except for children who get Universal Income free school meals. Contact your school for more information.
Please note: If you also get any of the qualifying benefits below, please make sure that you register as we receive additional funding for this. Registering your child in Reception – Year 2 not only ensures they will receive a free healthy meal every lunchtime, it also raises an additional £1,480 for the school from the government. This money is used by the school to offer pupils invaluable additional support as outlined in the school’s table on the previous page.
Have you registered your child if you are eligible?
Children in Reception – Year 2: Register Here
Free School Meals - Year 3 to 6
Children in Year 3 - 6
Your child can get a free school meal if you receive any of the following:
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- The guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit (as long as you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and you don't get more than £16,190 a year)
- Working Tax Credit run-on (paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)
- Universal Credit (with annual earned income of no more than £7,400 after tax and not including any benefits you get).
Please apply today if you receive any of these benefits. It takes 5 minutes and in most cases you will be told straight away if your child can get free meals at school and all of the other benefits.
School milk in year 3 or above
Children entitled to free school meals can also get free milk. Contact the office for more information.
When moving from Year 2 to Year 3, did you check if your child was eligible?
Children in Year 3 – 6: Register Here
Families already receiving free school meals
If you currently receive free school meals, your child will continue to receive them until the end of the Universal Credit rollout period (expected September 2024). Once Universal Credit is fully rolled out, your child will continue to receive free school meals until the end of their current phase of education, i.e. primary or secondary.
Pupil Premium Funding
Pupil premium funding is sent directly to the school and its main focus is to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils of all abilities and help them reach their potential.
All children who are eligible for Free School Meal, also qualify for Pupil Premium Funding. If you register, Ashwell School gets extra funding to pay for additional staff hours, resources, books and trips etc. This extra funding is £1480 per pupil.
Pupil premium funding is not a personal budget for individual pupils and the funding will be used to improve teaching quality to achieve the best outcomes for all pupils.
The school has a number of pupils who are eligible for pupil premium funding; however, we understand that all pupils face unique challenges and, therefore, the funding will not only be used for the benefit of eligible pupils. Pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium, however, will be prioritised.
The school intends to ensure pupil premium can be used to address the following areas:
- High-quality teaching, e.g. by investing in staff development
- Targeted academic support
- Non-academic barriers to success, e.g. attendance, behaviour and social and emotional support