Food vouchers for Free School Meal eligible pupils May 2024 to Oct 2024
Following the release of MI Sheet 51/24 , the following information is to notify schools that Norfolk County Council is extending the scheme from the previously agreed April 2024 through to October 2024. This is reflective of the recent government announcement.
If you have not already ordered your April vouchers, then please could you action this immediately. We still have a number of schools who have not submitted their orders.
Note: If vouchers expire, they cannot be reissued.
If your organisation feels there is a need to raise vouchers, other than for the purpose described above, you will need to contact the Free School Meal Finance Team to gain authorisation and explain the purpose for the use. If we agree, then the organisation will be required to provide us with an alternative userid and the organisation will be billed for the vouchers claimed. To cover the administration time, we will apply a £20 fee per invoice to cover the costs.
This is also a reminder that those children eligible for means-tested free school meals (FSM) attending a Norfolk School can claim through the Norfolk EdenRed portal, regardless of their home county residence. Please also take account of those pupils in receipt of Pupil Premium Plus. This also includes children in early years who receive EY Pupil Premium, those in post-sixteen education in receipt of bursary funding and those Elective Home Educated children that the council is aware of that would be eligible to means-tested FSM should they attend school.
Backdated claims for previous schemes must not be ordered. The schedule for placing the HSF5 FSM voucher orders are as follows:
| Month | Value £ | Go live date | Expiry date | Monthly Order Ref | Consolidated Order Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April | 15 | 06-Mar-24 | 06-Jun-24 | 13 HSF4 AP | |
| May | 15 | 10-May-24 | 10-Aug-24 | 1 HSF5 MA | 1 HSF5 MU |
| June | 15 | 07-Jun-24 | 07-Sept-24 | 2 HFF5 JU | 1 HSF5 MU |
| July | 30 | 05-Jul-24 | 05-Oct-24 | 3 HSF5 JY | 1 HSF5 MU |
| August | 30 | 09-Aug-24 | 09-Nov-24 | 4 HSF5 AU | 1 HSF5 MU |
| September | 15 | 06-Sept-24 | 06-Dec-24 | 5 HSF5 SE | 2 HSF5 SO |
| October | 15 | 11-Oct-24 | 11-Jan-25 | 6 HSF5 OC | 2 HSF5 SO |
Schools may place their orders monthly or consolidate them. Depending on which option you choose, please use the correct order reference as shown in the columns above. The order reference has now become a mandatory field to complete so please use the correct details.
It is important that if you choose the consolidated order option you enter the correct 'go live' dates on your CSV file before uploading it into the EdenRed portal so that the vouchers do not become available to parents/ carers too early.
Please refer to your Edenred user guide for instructions.
Any pupils newly eligible to FSM may join the schedule at the point they become entitled.
Newly appointed staff
If you are a newly appointed Headteacher or have new admin staff and are unsure about using the EdenRed portal, please e-mail fsmf@norfolk.gov.uk as soon as possible to arrange for your login to be set up.
Queries
Any other queries in relation to voucher orders should be directed to the Free School Meals Finance Team at fsmf@norfolk.gov.uk. NB: please do not contact EdenRed directly. Please continue to encourage eligible families to register for free school meals as this will enable them to qualify for these vouchers as well as the other support available.
Sharing the link
You may wish to share this link (www.norfolk.gov.uk/education-and-learning/schools/school-meals-and-milk) on your own Facebook pages to promote the scheme to your parents and carers. Please note that the free school meal vouchers will only be available to those who are eligible and have registered.