Earlier this month, members of SMT met with Nicqui Jones (Client Support Team Leader in Shetland for Social Security Scotland) and her colleague Fiona Boubert who was visiting Shetland.  They are hoping to run drop-in sessions in Whalsay in the near future to make islanders aware of benefits they may be entitled to and support them in making claims.  There are many benefits administered by Social Security Scotland that you may be unaware of and these are outlined in the leaflet below.

Building-better-benefits-Factsheet-v1.1 (002)

We will keep the school community posted about when Nicqui is going to be in Whalsay next.

This is probably a good time to flag up the school related benefits that are available as well:

Clothing Grants / Free School Meals/EMA

Local Authority Application Forms are available on the School Website (under Dinner Money) and on the following link. The Clothing Grant allowance is £100 for eligible pupils. The deadline for backdating applications is 31^st October 2019. Any applications received after 31^st October will only receive Free School Meals from the date the application is received.

http://www.shetland.gov.uk/education/ClothingGrants.asp

We would like to encourage all parents who think they may qualify for any of the above to apply, including parents of pupils in P1-3 who benefit from free school meals regardless. This is because Pupil Equity Funding for the school is based on numbers of pupils receiving these benefits. By applying for benefits you are entitled to, you will not only be helping your child but also increasing the amount of funding available to the school next year.

Families may be eligible to receive a Clothing Grant & Free School Meals/Milk if they fall into one of the following criteria:

 

Benefit(s) Received	Acceptable Supporting Evidence	Award
Income Support	All pages of your current Tax Credit Award Notice (TCAN) or your most recent Income Support letter	Free School Meals/Milk & Clothing Grant
Job Seekers Allowance (Income related element only)	All pages of your current Tax Credit Award Notice (TCAN) or your most recent Job Seekers Allowance letter	Free School Meals/Milk & Clothing Grant
Employment & Support Allowance (Income related element only)	All pages of your current Tax Credit Award Notice (TCAN) or your most recent Employment & Support Allowance letter	Free School Meals/Milk & Clothing Grant
Universal Credit – less than £610 per month	All pages of your current Tax Credit Award Notice (TCAN) or your most recent Universal Credit letter	Free School Meals/Milk & Clothing Grant
Support under Park IV of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999	Letter of confirmation from Home Office	Free School Meals/Milk & Clothing Grant
Child Tax Credit only with an annual income of less than £16,105 (not working Tax Credit)	All pages of your current Tax Credit Award Notice (TCAN).	Free School Meals/Milk & Clothing Grant
Both Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit, with an annual income of less than £6,900	All pages of your current Tax Credit Award Notice (TCAN).	Free School Meals/Milk & Clothing Grant

 

If you do not fall into any of these categories but feel you would benefit from Free School Meals due to exceptional circumstances or because you are facing hardship, please complete the application form and Schools Service will contact you to discuss your circumstances.