FROM September 2023, seven months ahead of the target date, all children in our primary schools will be offered a free school meal.
Welsh Government introduced the Universal Primary School Free School Meals (UPFSM) scheme last year, with a target that all primary school children will get free school meals by April 2024.
In Conwy, all children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 have been offered free school meals this year, and as a result, our primary schools have served an extra 1,200 meals a day.
From September 2023, all children in our primary schools will be offered a free school meal, and we estimate that’ll be an extra 1,500 meals served per day.
All our school kitchens have been upgraded to prepare for this UPFSM roll out. From the installation of larger combination ovens, bigger fridges and freezers, conversion from gas to electric, to a full refit. The total capital investment into our school kitchens is nearly £2million.
In addition, every school kitchen managed by Education Catering is now paperless. All school kitchens have had Wi-Fi installed, so they can now report the number of meals served, generate timesheets, send repair requests, and communicate direct with Education Services.
Cllr Julie Fallon, Conwy’s Cabinet Member for Education said: “We’re all feeling the financial pressure of the cost of living crisis. Universal free school meals will give some financial relief to families, as well as provide a nutritional meal to help children concentrate on their learning.
“Our Education Service are working extremely hard to rollout the universal free school meals to make sure that no child goes hungry in school.”
