Free breakfast clubs to launch in 750 schools within weeks – helping kids in deprived areas

16 comments

1. Ohh look is that “Sir Kid Starver” feeding the kids.

   Egg on the face of the right (yet again) and their silly nicknames.

   Thank you Labour, less than a year in and already doing a good job at turning things around.

2. Time to be ‘deprived’ to get them kids out the house early and save money.

3. God the Daily Mirror UI makes it impossible to read the article fully so apologies if its discussed in the article.

   Obviously it’s a great plan but has there been any mention of how it’s being rolled out? Will it just fall on the already overworked teachers and support staff to do even more with no support for them?

4. I work in a college and we have free breakfast for all learners. For a lot of the students, they have no guarantee of any caloric intake at home. Some are too busy getting their siblings to school to have anything. I love the rollout of these programmes.

   It is never a child’s fault that they are hungry.

5. It’s been proven that kids learn better if they’re not hungry. We need to continue the rollout to all schools. Excellent news

6. I’ve seen the benefits first hand of how school providing a breakfast can be.

   My daughter’s junior school gives the kids an option to have half a bagel with a light spread of butter when they arrive. Not particularly nutritious, but cheap enough and will give the kids something to keep them going until lunch time.

   It encourages the kids to turn up a little earlier (because they are excited to turn up and get a bagel), and ensures they have had some form of breakfast before starting their day.

   It’s cheap enough (fits well within 60p a child) and quick to prepare so doesn’t take up too much time for the already overworked school staff.

   It’s been popular with the children and the staff seem more than happy to keep it going. I can only see this being a good thing if other schools are getting that encouragement. 🙂

7. 60p per child per breakfast barely covers the cost of the food.

   The bigger issue is that most schools needed substantial construction work to be able to cater to hundreds of more children per sitting.

   New buildings, new plumbing, upgraded power infrastructure etc.

   A school local to me with <600 pupils has had to recieve nearly £1m of upgrades alone (and lose a chunk of their outdoor playing space)

8. This is woefully underfunded – schools can’t afford to staff breakfast clubs for the pittance they are offering

9. Although I agree with free breakfast clubs I also feel it should be all or nothing. If you going to roll it out then it should be universally available for all children in all areas. I know that then opens a bunch of issues for availability but feel it the right approach.

10. Make it available to all schools and all pupils. Take away the stigma of free school meals.

11. My wife’s school was one of these chosen. 60p per child is being offered for 6 months if I recall. Doesn’t cover staff costs at all.

12. I love everything about this , helping Britain get back to work , helping out kids and helping out less fortunate families .

    We are slowly taking steps back to normality whereas it seems America is descending into an Orwellian nightmare

13. Whilst this is good, does no one ever think of using contraception if they can’t afford to feed children?

14. I’m glad to see this rolled out.

    The biggest issue for me personally isn’t really nutrition but wrap around care. Today’s world demands 2 full time working parents just to barely cover monthly costs and it’s basically impossible for many families when you can’t drop them any earlier than 8:45 and can’t pick up any later than 3:45.

    My daughter’s school has a breakfast club but the provision for it is much lower than the school intake, so it’s a race/lottery. We know of couples who’ve literally had to quit their job, because they couldn’t get a breakfast club slot.

15. About time! I was so angry at my son’s school for refusing a child toast because their mom didn’t pay, that I chewed their asses out and the entire time during year 4 I dropped off bread, jam and butter for the class. And I got that good French butter too. Made sure to have my son tell me if it was put out. 😂

16. I’m so sick of treating symptoms not causes.

    A child doesn’t have food? Well, a breakfast doesn’t fix that, that’s stalling – at best.

    We KNOW the child is in a dangerous home –  instead of rescuing them we give them a meal and hope for the best.

    If the kid isn’t being fed *then their life is in danger.*

    That’s also probably only one of the things they’re missing – heating? Stability? Love?

    Get the kid into care, find the money. It’s a child we’re LITERALLY saying is starving! 

    How can that not trigger an emergency response?

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