Woking infants get free school meals!

More than 37,500 children in Surrey and 1.5 million infants across the country are now benefiting from a free school meal.

Every child in reception, year 1 and year 2 in state-funded schools are now able to sit down to a free school lunch, saving parents who currently pay for a school lunch over £400 a year per child.

The policy, unveiled by the Liberal Democrats at their 2014 Spring Conference, was based on clear evidence from a series of pilots that started in 2009 and ran for 2 years. The pilot schemes revealed that where children have been given a free school dinner, students were academically months ahead of their peers elsewhere and more likely to eat vegetables at lunchtime instead of less healthy food like crisps.

To ensure schools have the capacity to provide the extra meals the government has provided £150 million to help schools expand their kitchen and dining facilities, where needed.

Speaking about the change, Woking Liberal Democrats Parliamentary spokesman Chris Took said:

"We know, from countless studies, that the earlier healthy eating habits are introduced, the better our children will do, both academically and socially."

"Parents can spend around £400 for school lunches per child each year. This policy will ease the pressure on household budgets whilst also helping children get the best possible start in life."

Evidence shows that performance in class improved if a healthy meal is eaten at lunchtime:

* students were found to be on average 2 months ahead of their peers elsewhere

* the universal entitlement pilot led to around a 2 percentage point increase in children reaching target levels in maths and English at Key Stage 1; while at Key Stage 2 the impact on achievement was a 4 percentage point increase for English and 5.5 percentage points for maths

* academic improvements were most marked among children from less affluent families

* there was a 26 percentage point increase in the number of children eating vegetables at lunch and an 18 percentage point drop in those eating crisps.