3 minute read
Another Government U-turn
1.3 million get free school meals over summer
THE NEU won another U-turn from the Government with its campaign for free school meal vouchers to continue for eligible pupils over the summer holidays.
With child poverty groups, other unions and just a little help from householdname footballers, the NEU convinced the Government to make vouchers available during the Easter and summer half-term holidays.
Campaigners had petitioned ministers to continue the voucher scheme throughout summer, with political support from opposition parties lead by Labour. Food charity Sustain and the Good Law Project campaign group were taking legal action.
Then Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford’s public letter to ministers went viral and an attempted resistance crumbled.
Around 1.3 million children are already eligible for free school meals in England, a rising number during coronavirus.
Kevin Courtney, NEU joint general secretary, welcomed the news of the package, worth £120 million. “In the fifth richest country in the world, it is not right that so many children face food insecurity, especially in a time of global health crisis.
From plot to plate
A RECENT report highlighted a drop in the amount of fresh fruit and vegetables eaten by children on free school meals during the current pandemic.
In Devon, however, Sam Ward has ensured that more than 2,000 free food parcels have been delivered across all the schools she supports with Growing Minds UK during lockdown. Sam manages four in-house catering operations across the Academy for Character and Excellence and supports three in-house catering services in Torbay (see Educate, May/June).
She told Educate: “We guarantee variety and balance in our healthy food parcels, so parents don’t have to go to the supermarket.
“I also promote the benefits of having a school garden. and support in-house provisions offering freshly prepared school meals using local, seasonal produce while also encouraging food education and community cohesion.”
“After a great deal of public pressure the Government has finally recognised the importance of ensuring that children do not go hungry during this time of unprecedented pandemic. The NEU congratulates Marcus Rashford for the stand he has taken.
“There should never have been any hesitation on the part of Government. It is now time for it to act upon the need to end child poverty, not just for the period of a pandemic but for all time.”
The provision of free school meals during summer was the second point in the NEU’s ten-point plan for education (see page 11).
“We look forward to working with others, including Government, to achieve the other nine points,” Kevin added.
MANCHESTER United and England football star Marcus Rashford has 8.3 million followers on Instagram and almost three million on Twitter. When his letter to the Government calling on it to provide free summer school meals was published in the Sunday Times, Boris Johnson refused to budge. So, with the hashtag #maketheUturn, Marcus gathered an unstoppable team of support – including David Beckham and Gary Lineker – and within hours the Government suffered a “humiliating” defeat and conceded. After the win, Marcus said: “Just look at what we can do when we come together, THIS is England in 2020.”
SOON after a national food voucher scheme for children who have free school meals was launched, head teachers began reporting problems. “On Twitter, heads were saying they were getting up at 4am to try to log on to the website, which kept crashing,” said Chris Dyson, head teacher at Parklands Primary in Leeds. Concerned that the 78 per cent of his pupils who have free school meals might go without, he decided to run his own food scheme. Since schools closed in March, each child who has free school meals receives two food hampers worth £60, including bread, cereals and milk, a week – all of it donated. “I promised the children and parents that nobody would go hungry over the next weeks,” Chris said. (Left) Chris with Parklands pupils
