Money ring-fenced for free school meals not used

Figures published in The Evening Star show that the county's 2,975 disadvantaged 11-16-year-old students eligible to receive school meals are spending only 54% of the cash provided for the initiative. Patricia O'Brien, Suffolk County Council's portfolio holder for children, schools and young people's services, told the paper that efforts to get kids eating more school dinners were ongoing: "You can only do so much. Suffolk Catering does a very good job - I have sampled school meals myself and they are very tasty. But some children are fussy - that's just part of growing up." Terry Duffell, headteacher at Holywells High in Ipswich added: "Around one in four of our students claim free school meals but that is significantly under what it should be. There is a stigma in some cases. Our families may not be wealthy but they are very proud and they might be deterred from applying because they may feel they have failed to provide, which is certainly not the way we see it." But as teenage taste buds fight healthy options, primary school children in the area are tucking into more and more with 94% of those entitled to free school meals taking them. Local primary school headteacher Ken Marrable said: "We are changing the whole culture of eating in the school. We want children to see lunch as a social occasion. Eating properly is an important life skill."