With free school meals being introduced across Wales and Scotland and more recently in London, then we need to take a serious look at the vital role of technology in ensuring these schemes deliver for pupils, parents and schools.
In nations and regions across the UK, there is growing momentum for free school meal schemes in one form or another.
All of Wales’s approximately 272,000 primary school pupils are set to get free meals by 2024. Scotland is taking a similar approach, rolling out universal free school lunches for primary 4 and 5 children and targeted support during school holidays.
More recently, the Mayor of London announced a one-off £130m to ensure all primary school children in the capital can receive free school meals for the 2023/2024 academic year.
As well as easing the pressure on hard-pressed parents, a guaranteed school meal could ensure pupils are better able to concentrate in the classroom and could also discourage unhealthy eating habits.
Free school meals, therefore, have real potential to be a game-changer, for pupils, parents, and schools alike.
A recent report by the Institute of Fiscal Studies, for example, revealed a fairly strong evidence base suggesting that children who receive free school meals benefit academically.
For education providers like councils and Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs), rolling out and measuring the true impact of these schemes will be no easy feat.
A surge in pupils receiving free meals will mean logistical, environmental, and administrative challenges. Success will hinge on getting things right from the start.
Making sure no child left behind
An initial challenge will be ensuring that every single pupil who is entitled to a free meal gets one.
Catering management and cashless payment technologies, which are already playing a pivotal role in the school catering environment, must be able to integrate seamlessly and securely with the school’s wider suite of systems to ensure that no child is left hungry due to administrative errors.
For MATs which have schools across multiple regions, this could prove an even bigger headache, especially if other combined or local authorities follow the Mayor of London’s lead and roll out their own schemes.
Flexible, data-driven solutions will ensure that MATs can navigate what could become a very fragmented landscape for school meals in the years ahead.
Once free school meal schemes are embedded, it will be vital to monitor their uptake and impact, to ensure they are making a real difference for the pupils and parents that need them most.
Here, once again, data will be key. Centralised, automated, flexible reporting will allow education providers to measure school meal uptake and to identify and analyse trends both at individual school level, or collectively across all schools.
Greener, healthier mealtimes
With every additional school meal, comes the potential for food waste and the carbon footprint associated with it. For schools and a climate-conscious generation of young people, this will be a key measure of the overall success of free school meal schemes.
Here once again, data-driven technologies have a vital role to play. Pre-ordering of school meals (whether in the classroom or via an app like CivicaEats), will allow schools and catering providers to accurately manage how much stock needs to be ordered and cooked on any given day, helping keep food waste to a minimum.
Free meals could also help to turn the tide on unhealthy eating habits at school. Cashless payment technologies can provide valuable historic uptake data, helping caterers create healthy menus that will also be popular.
Coupled with pre-order, pupils can have confidence that a healthy enjoyable meal of their choice will be available, reducing the attraction of packed lunches and off-site alternatives.
With food prices at a record high and the cost-of-living crisis placing a huge burden on families, free school meals will doubtless be much welcomed by parents and school leaders alike. With the right technologies, we can ensure they deliver lasting social and economic impact.