Free School Meals (FSM) is an individual allowance granted to specific pupils. Parents or guardians that meet the government criteria can apply for it at Apply for free school meals - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Once approved, the allowance can be applied within ParentPay to ensure the pupil receives a free meal each school day.
This article will show you...
...how to configure FSM within ParentPay to allow eligible pupils to receive the benefit.
Once the allowance is setup, any eligible pupil taking a school meal will automatically have the relevant allowance deducted from the cost, normally making it free of charge. This adjustment will be shown on the pupil statement.
Configuring the FSM allowance
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If you have a cashless till system in operation at your site you may also need to configure the FSM allowance on that system. Please refer to your provider for more details on how to do this.
Video guidance
Instructions for setup
- Navigate to Attendance, meals and events > Settings > FSM Allowance.
- Within the Allowance group 1 section enter a relevant allowance value.
- Enter a start date.
- Leave the end date blank.
- Click Dry run to update the free meal allowance.
Free School Meals (FSM) eligibility
Before a pupil will be able to receive the FSM allowance, you will need to confirm that the parent or guardian has successfully applied for and been approved for the allowance. If they have not yet applied or are unsure of their eligibility, the site Apply for free school meals - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) holds full details for England and links to other countries for their process.
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Once approved for FSM the pupil is also entitled to Pupil Premium (Pupil premium: overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk))