Every child in year one in schools in Swansea will be offered a free school meal each day, when the term resumes after the February half term break next week. Pupils in reception have been offered free meals since September, 2022 - and now the year above will be able to enjoy them also.
Year one pupils will be "automatically enrolled" into the free meals scheme - parents and carers do not need to apply for the meals - and there will be no charge to parents or the schools themselves. Instead, the meals come after investment from the Welsh Government and after Swansea Council says it invested more than £4.3m into improving school kitchens and updating equipment at schools across the city.
Ultimately, the Welsh Government intends for pupils in every year group in primary schools across the country to enjoy a free school meal every day by 2024. Swansea Council said it was working hard to meet this target. You can get the biggest Swansea news stories straight to your inbox with our newsletter.
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Council cabinet member for education and learning at Swansea Council, Robert Smith, explained: "During this cost-of-living crisis the Welsh Government’s Free School Meal pledge is more important than ever so I’m very pleased that in Swansea we are now in a position to extend the offer to all year one pupils. I'm grateful to ministers for the funding that is being provided to enable us to deliver this.
"By 2024, all children in primary schools will be offered a free school meal and in Swansea we are making good progress in preparing to meet this commitment. We will be updating parents and carers as soon as we are in a position to include further year groups once the necessary infrastructure is in place."
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