If you are the parent or guardian of children at school and you are on a low income, you could get free school meals and a school clothing allowance.

You can claim free school meals and school clothing allowance if you get income support, job seekers allowance (income based), guaranteed credit, or if you get child tax credit and have a yearly income of less than £14,495 but do not receive working tax credit.

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All food provided by local authorities must meet national nutritional standards. These ensure that children are provided with a healthy, balanced diet. The new standards, introduced in September 2006, require the following:

High-quality meat, poultry or oily fish regularly available
at least two portions of fruit and vegetables with every meal
bread, other cereals and potatoes regularly available
Additionally, there are controls on the following foods:

Deep-fried food limited to no more than two portions per week
fizzy drinks, crisps, chocolate and other confectioneries removed from school meals and vending machines.

Further standards for food other than lunch were introduced in September 2007.

If the school's budget includes an amount for lunches and refreshments it is the governors' responsibility to provide free and paid-for meals facilities and to meet the nutritional standards.

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Permanent : means your child cannot go back into the school again, unless reinstated by a meeting of the Discipline Committee.

Fixed Term : last for a specific number of days but cannot be longer than 45 days in the school year.

Lunchtime : means exclusion from social time only. If you are concerned about the number of lunchtime exclusions your child has received, please contact any of the numbers given in the 'further information and advice' answer.

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