What is Transitional Protection (TP)?
There has been a policy change by the Welsh Government on 01/04/19, which introduced new rules for claiming of free school meals. This change would have resulted in some children losing their eligibility for free school meals; the introduction of the ‘transitional protection’ is intended to reduce this impact.
All pupils eligible for a free school meal (or who become eligible between 01/04/19 to 31/12/23) will have ‘FSM Transitional Protection’, on 01/04/19 even if their circumstances change – meaning that their school meals will still be free. This will apply until the end of their current school phase (i.e. until they finish the phase they are in on 31/12/2023)
Do I need to change anything?
Pupils at Welsh schools who no longer have a valid FSM period, but who are eligible for Transitional Protection will currently be being charged for meals. These pupil records need to be checked and an appropriate FSM or TP status allocated.
- Ensure that there is a valid FSM period present for all FSM entitled pupils.
- For any pupil that has had FSM entitlement end since 01/04/2019, allocate an FSM allowance for them in ParentPay up to yesterday to ensure all meals are free to that point (removing any potential debt). Then enable TP in the MIS and upload the pupil data into ParentPay. This ensures TP will function from today going forward.
NOTE If using SIMS with MIS Sync to upload pupil records into ParentPay, you must ensure that it is version 4.0.7094.20768 or later, and that you have installed the correct SIMS report files.
Where can I find the FSM TP flag in SIMS?
Log in to SIMS and navigate to Student details > Find a specific student > Go to Dietary - Section 6
