Four 11-year-old students from Monksdown Primary School—Max, Josie, Ahmed and Arthur—were recently in the news. Their tireless work provided free school meals for every child. Now in year six, the group is fiercely dedicated to making sure every child has access to healthy, nutritious meals. They claim that this right should not be determined by a family’s income.
Their dedication and determination paid off with a meeting at Number 10. There, they thanked government staff for their work, bringing along a specially made thematic card to celebrate the recent decision to extend free school meal eligibility. Leader of the British Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer, proposed this idea earlier this month. First, it would ensure that all children in England whose families get Universal Credit will be eligible for free school meals, regardless of income.
Josie even made a special trip to London to join us for the celebration. She was clear about the need to prioritize equity in access to school meals.
“Some of our friends in school and in our classes have struggled with that and we wanted to make it fair.” – Josie
The students joined forces with the No Child Left Behind Coalition. This fantastic campaign is being run by the National Education Union (NEU). They want to widen eligibility for free school meals to an additional half a million kids by 2026. This proposal would ensure all low-income families no longer have to worry about the daily expense of school lunches.
Anne-Marie Ferrigan, who leads the Pupil Voice project at Monksdown, expressed the importance of the students’ participation. The Pupil Voice intervention allows students to voice their experiences and help shape school policy. Ms. Ferrigan commented on the incredible compassion shown by the students.
“We’re so, so proud of all the children here at Monkstown, the fact that they can put themselves across and they can put themselves in somebody else’s shoes and understand what that might feel like. And then the fact that they want to do something about it, the fact that they want to give up their time to make change for something that doesn’t even affect some of them.” – Ms. Ferrigan
The campaign by Max, Josie, Ahmed, and Arthur reflects a growing recognition among young people of social responsibility and advocacy. Their efforts intentionally uplift their colleagues. They educate the public and policymakers on important topics connected with education and student well-being.
