School Buses and Free School Meals

Dear Parents

We are all concerned about the situation with school buses.  Our current bus companies including our newcomer John Dix Travel are doing an excellent job for us but costs have risen and routes have diminished.

I am writing today to our MPs – Mr Carmichael in Stroud, Mr Graham in Gloucester and Mr Harper in the Forest – about the effect of changes in the arrangements for school buses in Gloucestershire and about the rising cost of fares.  Please feel free to add to my letter by writing your own.

I have told you all before that families on low incomes can apply for support with transport to St Peter’s.   Today I have spoken to the Travel Assistance & Free School Meals Team about such applications.

All students in years 7 – 11 who qualify for free school meals (FSM) automatically qualify for an additional level of transport assistance if they attend St Peter’s  and if you live more than two miles away but less than fifteen.

Students in the sixth-form from low income families can apply for bursaries.  (Please contact the finance office at St Peter’s for advice about this.)

It would be extremely helpful to the school if all eligible families applied for grant aid.  Not only will the families receive financial support but the bus routes will become more firmly guaranteed.  The more applications Shire Hall receive the better they will understand our plight.

You may qualify for free school meals but have not applied.  Please apply for free school meals if you are eligible.    The cashless catering system means that students on free school meals are not identified at any point;  they simply have no money withdrawn from their account when they choose their meal.  Students on FSM bring extra funding into the school which has to be spent on ensuring that they get the best possible education.  And, of course, students on FSM who need to catch a bus will get help with that (if they live between two and fifteen miles away).

You can get Free School Meals for your child if you or your partner gets either:

Universal Credit; Income Support; Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance; Income-related Employment and Support Allowance; Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999; The Guarantee element of State Pension Credit; Child Tax Credit, provided they are not entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual income of £16,190 or less, as assessed by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.

Where a parent is entitled to Working Tax Credit during the four-week period immediately after their employment ceases, or after they start to work less than 16 hours per week, their children are entitled to free school lunches. Children who receive a qualifying benefit in their own right are also eligible to receive Free School Meals.

I have also learned that Shire Hall will provide transport assistance for ‘children unable to walk in safety to school because of the nature of the route’.  I have been told that it is worth applying for this even if St Peter’s is not your nearest school.  I think it is also worth applying if your children have to walk along difficult routes to get to bus stops.

Our job at St Peter’s is to make sure that the education we offer here is worth all this trouble.  I am delighted by the start we have made to the new term, by the attitudes of our students, by the enthusiasm of our new sixth-formers and by the excellence of our new staff.

Yours,

Philip Rush