Spring 2023 News

• Child Safety Week

  Thu 08 Jun 2023

  Child Safety Week (5^th- 11^th June): Child Accident Prevention resources

  This #ChildSafetyWeek make sure you know how to be dog safe @CAPTcharity.

  Close supervision of children and dogs is key. For practical tips to ensure children and dogs can live safely together read: https://capt.org.uk/dogs-and-children

  #DogSafety, @DefraGovUK @DogsTrust @RSPCA_official

  

• School meal price increase

  Thu 11 May 2023

  The current economic climate continues to be a challenge for all and HC3S is also facing significant increases in food and pay costs, with further escalation in food prices anticipated. Unfortunately, the Government's 7p increase for Universal Infant Free School Meals in the funding settlement is not sufficient to cover these rising prices. 

   

  HC3S is committed to pricing meals solely to cover costs, without making a profit. Despite efforts and negotiations with suppliers, food prices have exceeded budgeted levels, and reducing the nutritional content or portion sizes of meals is not considered an appropriate option.  

   

  Consequently, HC3S must increase the school meal price by 20p, from £2.80 to £3, for all meal types from 5 June 2023. 

   

  These are challenging times for everyone, and this decision was not made lightly. 

   

  The current funding for Universal Infant Free School Meals is £2.41 per meal, which will only provide around £0.48 for food after the proposed national pay award is applied. This is less than the cost of food provided a decade ago and is insufficient to meet the required standards for feeding children under the School Food Plan and Food in School legislation.  

   

  However, the service remains dedicated to providing high-quality meals that support the learning of Hampshire's young people, including those from low-income households who rely on our hot meals. Schools are encouraged to continue to signpost families to the free school meal eligibility checker online: www.hants.gov.uk/educationandlearning/freeschoolmeals   

   

  Efforts to promote affordable school meals and support families in need 

   

  Hampshire County Council is taking an active role in advocating for fair and affordable school meal prices and is working closely with local MPs to raise the profile of this issue. This follows previous communication with the Secretary of State for Education, outlining the need for adequate funding to support the provision of healthy school meals, and schools are encouraged to do the same. 

   

  On 11 May, the Local Authority will put forward its latest set of proposed initiatives to be funded from the new Household Support Fund (April 2023 to March 2024) – the scheme which supports families and individuals struggling with the cost of food and fuel. This will include discretionary funding available for schools, colleges and early years settings to provide direct food or fuel support for families in need. These will be presented for approval by the Executive Lead Member for Children’s Services and include a number of different schemes to help families with the rising cost of living. For more information visit the County Council website (www.hants.gov.uk). 

• Tick Awareness

  Thu 30 Mar 2023

  Tick awareness is an important step towards reducing the chance of getting a tick-borne disease like Lyme disease. Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne infection in the UK. It is important to remind staff, children and families that ticks are found in all areas of the UK and we should all be tick aware.

   

  Being tick aware by knowing what ticks look like, where they can be found, and practising prevention behaviours will help to avoid tick bites.

  • Make it a habit to carry out a tick check – an easy way to make sure you haven’t picked up a tick while outdoors. Look over your clothes and body regularly if you’re outdoors and brush off any ticks you see. Carry out a thorough tick check when at home by removing your clothing and having a good look and feel for ticks – look out for anything as small as a speck of dirt or a freckle.
  • If you do get bitten, removing the tick quickly and correctly can help to reduce any potential risk of infection.  
  • Being bitten by a tick doesn’t mean you’ll definitely get Lyme disease as not all ticks carry Lyme-causing bacteria.
  • If you are bitten by a tick infected with Lyme-causing bacteria, you can reduce the chances of the bacteria being transmitted by removing the tick quickly. 
  • A characteristic expanding rash is present in most but not all cases of Lyme disease.
  • Seek advice from your GP or dial NHS 111 if you feel unwell after being bitten by a tick, even when you don’t have a rash, and remember to tell them you were bitten by a tick or have recently spent time outdoors.

   

  Please don't think you are only at risk from ticks during off-site visits, they may be present in your school field, during the walk to and from school and it is possible to be bitten throughout the year. We may be unable to entirely avoid ticks, but swift removal and knowledge of them may help to prevent a bite leading to more serious consequences.

   

  For more information please see the NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/lyme-disease/

   

  Tick Awareness leaflet - 

  https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1057949/Tick_awareness_A5_leaflet.pdf

   

  

• Easter Holiday Activity Camp

  Thu 09 Mar 2023

   

  Personal Best will be running our Easter Half Term HAF Activity Camp for children aged 6 - 12  at 3 locations in Hampshire. 

  The Mountbatten School, Romsey 

  Barton Peveril, Eastleigh

  Knights Enham, Andover

  **Free spaces are available for children in receipt of benefit related free school meals - includes a hot lunch**
  For paying customers, places can be booked per day or at a discounted rate for four day bookings. We also accept childcare vouchers.

   

  Additionally, we can offer free places for young people who meet any of the following criteria: 

  * Children assessed by the local authority as being in need, at risk or vulnerable

  * Young carers

  * Looked-after children or previously looked-after children

  * Children who have low attendance rates at school or who are at risk of exclusion

  * Children living in areas of high deprivation or from low-income households who are not in receipt of free school meals

  

• Spring into Action 2023

  Fri 24 Feb 2023

  We are pleased to be supporting Hampshire’s Spring into Action 2023 event!

  The event runs from Monday 27th February to Sunday 5 March 2023.

  A Spring into Action Toolkit will be shared with families and is also available at: https://myjourneyhampshire.com/springintoaction

   

  The toolkit provides families with a daily activity to enjoy each day of the school week while they walk, wheel, scoot or cycle on their journey to and from school and during the weekend.

  Families are invited to try a daily activity during the week from the toolkit.

  You can follow the daily suggestions or mix them up to suit your family!

  Children will also be able to celebrate World Book Day with special book-themed activities for the journey to school on Thursday 2nd March 2023.

  The toolkit provides a fantastic opportunity for families to spend time talking and having fun together.

  

• Winter health resources

  Wed 18 Jan 2023

  Winter illnesses are still circulating and affecting mostly the young and elderly members of our communities. The Respiratory Paediatric Nurses are running a webinar - It's not easy being wheezy - on 27th January 2023. They welcome parents and carers of children who suffer from wheeze when they have coughs and colds or have an inhaler to use, along to the session. Note that on sign up, questions can be submitted to the team. Details and joining instructions can be found here: Winter Wheeze Webinar.  

   

  In addition, the UK Health Security Agency have released an updated blog to raise awareness and promote the best ways to protect children and others. 

  Back to School - 5 things to do to help manage winter illness

   

  Please also remember about the Healthier Together website that is a useful place for parents to get health advice and information.

  

• Healthier Together app

  Fri 16 Dec 2022

  Healthier Together is a useful resource to signpost to for all health and well-being information, with the pathways having been developed by clinicians. 

   

  Healthier Together should be the first point of call for parents. The platform has a number of accessibility functions: when touched, the text will be read aloud; parents may select their country's flag and all the pages will be translated into their language; and the font size can also be increased.

  

• Help for vulnerable families

  Fri 16 Dec 2022

  Hampshire County Council is using its Household Support Funding from the Government to provide a range of support between now and March next year, that will help vulnerable households with the costs of food, energy and other essentials. As well as discretionary grant funding that has been awarded to schools, colleges and early years settings to help families facing hardship, we are also working with community groups, local councils and other organisations to provide the following support:

  • Help with energy costs – local Citizens Advice services are supporting eligible households with the costs of gas, water and / or electricity bills. Households who qualify for support can contact their local Citizens Advice directly.  
  • Help with food costs – there are 19 Community Pantries across Hampshire which provide food at a lower cost than supermarkets, in exchange for a small membership fee.
  • Food vouchers – food vouchers will be available to households who receive council tax support, and households who receive housing benefit. These will be distributed by local district and borough councils in the coming months. Those who are eligible don’t need to do anything – they will be contacted by their local council.
  • Housing costs – local district and borough councils can provide support for housing costs in exceptional circumstances. Residents are asked to contact their local council if they think they may be eligible for emergency support. All of this is in addition to the Holiday Activities and Food programme, which will be providing more than 120 free schemes this Christmas for children who receive income-based free school meals during term time. 

   

  Parents and carers wishing to find out what is on offer in their area should search the Family Information and Services Hub and contact their local providers directly to sign up to schemes. 

   

  Families can find out more about all of the support available by visiting the connect4communities website.

• Save the Children Christmas Jumper Day

  Thu 08 Dec 2022

  Wear your Christmas jumper over your uniform and donate to Save the Children. Donations can be made via our JustGiving page using the QR code.

  

• Meal price update from HC3S

  Tue 11 Oct 2022

  It will come as no surprise to you to hear that in the current national economic climate HC3S is experiencing significant increased costs around food and pay, with food prices expected to escalate further. Unfortunately the Government funding settlement announced earlier this year of an increase of 7p for the provision of Universal Infant Free School Meals was not sufficient to cover rising prices. 

   

  HC3S does not price to make a profit, only to cover costs. We work extremely hard to keep prices as low as possible while delivering a freshly cooked two course hot meal. 

   

  Our negotiations with suppliers have, to date, helped to keep food costs below current inflation rates, but despite all efforts from these suppliers and HC3S, prices have now moved above budgeted levels, which means the current meal price is no longer viable. We have no room to further reduce food costs without reducing the nutritional content or size of meals.  

   

  We therefore have no option but, regrettably, to increase the HC3S school meal to £2.80 for all meal types with effect from Monday 31 October 2022.