Free School Lunch Programme begins at CBS Primary in Dundalk
CBS Primary designated DEIS school earlier this year
The CBS Primary School in Dundalk was designated a DEIS school by the Dept of Education this year, a move that will see it receive additional State resources.
DEIS stands for Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools and it is aimed at addressing the educational needs of children and young people from disadvantaged communities. One of the benefits of being a DEIS school means that the CBS is now able to have a Free School Meals Programme.
Maria Doyle, who is a Louth County Councillor and also a teacher at the CBS Primary School, spoke to the Dundalk Democrat about the new programme. Maria also has the role of Home School Community Liasion Coordinator at the CBS, which is a role that all DEIS schools have.
“It's to liaise with parents and the community and to promote things like school attendance and positive relationships between home, school and community”, Maria explains. “It's a non teaching role and you're working with TUSLA as well”, she adds.
“That's the position I got this year. So as part of that, one of the things we will have in the school is a School Completion Programme.”
The School Completion Programme aims to help students from disadvantaged areas stay in school. Explaining the Free School Meals Programme, Maria says, “every child in the school is provided with a free meal. At the moment its cold lunches and they use an app to order. They get the fruit for a snack and then a choice of sandwich or roll or whatever at lunchtime.
Maria believes that the new programme offers more than just that however. “We're all for trying to make eating lunch a social event, so that all the children are sitting around chatting, eating their lunch. We're really focusing on that as well, to make sure the children are socialising, maybe moving around different tables and so on at different days to get to know other children in the class. That's another focus we're using our new programme to work on.”
Overall the school is very happy with the new programme. “We're delighted and we're glad its up and running”, Maria comments. "Its just a really good benefit for our children and for the families, and hopefully it'll be a great resource for everybody."