Following on from my previous post regarding free school meals for ALL reception - year 2 pupils. Apparently there is no movement for children who are unable to eat these meals due to their sensory needs. Im going to thread rant a little 1/ #autism #SEND

My son will only eat specific brands of food and only eats 10 foods. This is where the trouble lies. I will obviously happily provide a packed lunch as I already do a snack. This will cost me around £400 for the whole school year for the next 3 years - £1,200 2/

This is a huge amount of money when the other families will have theirs free because their children are able to eat the food provided. To put this in some context. Carers allowance - which I am not eligible for but many in this situation would be is £269 per month. 3/

This would mean nearly two months carers allowance payments would be spent on school lunches per year. I really do not understand why in exceptional circumstances that a voucher scheme or similar couldn’t be given to parents to purchase the lunches to the price of a meal. 4/

So In conclusion as I know many people commented on my last post facing the same problem. Children who cannot eat these meals due to their sensory needs cannot benefit from free school meals and are excluded. I won’t be stopping here. 5/5