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Free school meals
02/10/2008
All school pupils in primaries one to three are to be entitled to free school meals following successful pilot schemes.
Plans for a national roll out were announced today by Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop and Children and Early Years Minister Adam Ingram during a visit to the Oakley campus in Dunfermline, Fife, which combines Holy Name RC Primary School and Inzievar Primary School.
Pilot schemes ran across five local authorities (Fife, East Ayrshire, Glasgow City, West Dunbartonshire and the Scottish Borders) and 35,000 children between October 2007 and June 2008.
Uptake of meals among P1s to P3s rose from 53 per cent to 75 per cent. Within the target group of P1-P3 pupils not registered for free school meals, uptake increased from 41 per cent to 69 per cent.
Ms Hyslop said:
"The Concordat between the Scottish Government and COSLA stated that if the evaluation of the trials were positive legislation would be introduced to allow extension of the nutritious free school meals to all children in P1 to P3.
"The pilot was a success with pupils, parents and schools and I have therefore introduced an Order to the Scottish Parliament today which will allow all local authorities to provide free school meals for P1 to P3 pupils.
"This Government has made it a priority to help children in their early years and this initiative does just that, providing every child with a free school meal in their first years at primary school."
The evaluation of the trial aimed to investigate practical issues and to assess early indications of health and other benefits. The research found:
- The trial resulted in significantly increased uptake of school meals. Among the target group of P1-P3 pupils not free school meal (FSM) registered, uptake of school meals increased from 41per cent to 69 per cent
- Uptake also increased slightly among P1-P3 pupils who were previously FSM registered (from 89 per cent to 94 per cent) and among P4-P7 pupils (from 47 per cent to 50 per cent)
- Parents, teachers, local authority staff and catering staff were very positive about the provision of FSM for P1-P3 pupils
- Some pupils taking part in the trial were trying and enjoying new foods and some were asking for new foods at home, including healthier options
- There were no unexpected impacts from the pilot and roll-out by other local authorities should not be problematic
The agreement with COSLA and local authorities means that free school meals for P1-P3 pupils will be rolled out from August 2010.
The timetable is intended to give local authorities time to carefully plan for the introduction of free school meals, to learn lessons from the local authorities which piloted the scheme and to negotiate contracts with suppliers.
Todays's announcement is the latest in the campaign by the Scottish Government to help develop children's tastes for healthy, wholesome and nutritious food by taking an early intervention approach to changing their eating habits, both at school and in the home.
New guidance was recently published to help school catering staff produce healthy meals. In August, all primary schools implemented new nutritional guidelines for the food and drink served and sold on site. Secondary schools will be following suit next August.
Ms Hyslop added:
"We are committed to tackling obesity and unhealthy eating habits at a young age and we are working with CoSLA to deliver positive changes for Scotland's children.
"As part of Scotland's first-ever national food and drink policy, we are encouraging all Scots to develop healthy eating habits that will benefit them for the rest of their lives and help tackle the serious problem of obesity.
"The pilot gave pupils an opportunity to try new healthy foods with some asking at home for foods they had tried at school. Parents also reported talking about food with their children more often and some said their children were more confident in discussing their food preferences.
"Now every child in those vitally important early years will have the opportunity to enjoy these same experiences. Parents too will feel the benefit during these financially difficult times."
John Dickie, head of the Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland and a leading member of the Free School Meals Campaign, said:
"This is a massive step forward in the campaign to ensure every child, whatever their home circumstances, gets a healthy meal at school.
"We in the Scottish Free School Meals Campaign urge Parliament to support the roll-out of this excellent initiative to all Primary 1 to 3 pupils. It will help boost children's health, education and wellbeing and provide a really welcome benefit to hard pressed families across Scotland."
The first-ever cross-cutting National Food and Drink Policy for Scotland, to boost the industry, support healthier and more environmentally sustainable choices and enhance Scotland's reputation as a land of quality food and drink, is currently being developed by the Government.