Free breakfast clubs for ALL primary school children? Why?

Breakfast clubs already happen in many schools and Scotland has had a free meals policy for schoolchildren for simply ages. If it works there, it can work here. I don't suppose the children will be offered much to eat, probably cereal, yogurt maybe, some bread and jam or whatever, and a drink, but it will be fuel for them to start the day which can't be bad. The fact that it won't be means tested is good too, nobody is stigmatised.

FFS. Talk about a brick wall. Bloody numpty comment.

• we need more nurses
• oooohh, are you going to volunteer to work in a hospital then?
• We need more refuse collectors
• oooooh, are you going to empty everybody’s bins, then?
• we need more teachers
• ooooh, are you going to homeschool your kids, then?

I appreciate the point you are making @ThatSnappyPlumBear 🌺

I can’t see this being a success in my school-we tried to open one last year and just couldn’t get anyone to apply to work it. Let’s hope the government fund it adequately so it doesn’t end up with schools making a loss or just not being able to offer it.

I'm really excited by breakfasts coming in - it will really help my youngest. It will make a big difference to us, and will mean the school day gets started sociably and with a proper meal.

Are you volunteering to run it then?

My son went to an independent special needs secondary school. They provided breakfast as the school day started quite early and kids were shipped in from a 30 mile radius

As I said upthread it isn't always the kids you think need breakfast.

I had a SAHM lived in a new build and had holidays, but frequently I went without breakfast until I was old enough to make it myself.

different schools do different things. Your school may charge for milk in infants. My kids school provided free fruit AND milk. My nephews school provided neither.

The government fund the fruit scheme. The milk isn't funded. The school obviously pay out of their own funds for that. Ours pay half price as we do not buy cartons.

Well said, Grammarnut.

I posted to say we always had breakfast. However, we lived in the years of the new NHS and received care from that as well. Being post-war born a wide range of facilities were available including, for me, a pint of Jersey milk a week (which I drank), cod liver oil and malt, all given to build healthy children. None of this is now done, and many will be horrified at a pint of very much full-cream milk being drunk by a child - and they are in error, no child under six should be given any milk except whole milk since the skimmed varieties do not allow the child to process the proteins or vitamin D. School meals were paid for at 1/- a week per child, rising to 5/- by the time I left school.

If you are unhappy at paying for breakfast clubs are you also unhappy to pay for the NHS? My mother's older brother died of TB at two, before the NHS, since the family insurance did not cover a child (his father also died). My mother's cousin died at the age of 6, also of TB, and my cousin's elder brother died at 3 months, cause unknown. Everyone, including m/c parents who have good jobs, needs to see that they benefit from the NHS and the Welfare State. If breakfast clubs do that, fine, because we all need both.

@ExpatAl very valid point that commuters going to well paid job will be together enough to avail of the service (which I just can’t believe. It’s bonkers - in the same vein as people who really don’t need to using food banks),

well off parents will a) be entitled as it’s universal b) will HAVE to use it as it will either replace what they currently use directly OR it make third party providers unviable. It is nothing like using a food bank when you don’t need to.

@RheaRend different schools do different things. Your school may charge for milk in infants. My kids school provided free fruit AND milk. My nephews school provided neither.

WTH people dropping kids off at 8.30 for it! Give them breakfast at home! If you need to commute give them an earlier breakfast and not everyone surely can be a single parent.

when you look at the poor quality of what is offered and the logistics, need for staff and very valid point that commuters going to well paid job will be together enough to avail of the service (which I just can’t believe. It’s bonkers - in the same vein as people who really don’t need to using food banks), whereas as a parent with bad MH, or say 3 kids, 1 SN will struggle. Maybe it should be more bespoke - a bag handed at the dour or sth. Yes I can hear myself. I don’t think it’s money well spent.

You mean they expect staff to give up their evening and cancel commitments? Only when it comes to an emergency does that happen at ours (club staff sickness for example) not as routine to cover daily hours.

All staff at ours are offered it but if no one takes it up then club is closed that evening. If staff do then they can't be paid but are given time back at ours.

Oh yes some do take the mick at ours but there is no way a child can be left on the doorstep as that is a safeguarding issue.

Staff have to do shopping at ours as there is no kitchen so no supplies. They buy once a week and if extra come then they struggle.

Yup ppl assume all schools are the same not that some teachers have to start at 6am to ensure that they have time to set up because of the club being in their room!

There’s never been more book on in my experience. It’s always within a certain range and I assume they plan for more staff just in case. But there are quite a lot of teaching assistants in the school, and then because there’s a nursery class there’s even more assistants there due to the lower ratios so there’s actually plenty of staff for it.
And kids just aren’t accepted if they’re early and not booked on. It really sounds like some of the parents at your school have no respect for the staff which is a shame.
At ours there’s a school canteen and all the breakfast food gets ordered in with the normal lunch catering. No staff member is ever having to do shopping for supplies.
I suspect that the people instigating this are just used to schools that work as mine does (which I suppose is actually the most common situation) and haven’t even considered what schools without a canteen or dining hall will do!

Ahh sorry I misunderstood there! Yes there is a huge waste, our fruit arrives rotten in many cases and we bin so much of it. Yes if you have uncertain numbers and fresh food then that will cause huge amounts to go uneaten which is a real waste.

Milk is free up to the age of 5 and so within the infants (up to 7) if parents want milk after that then they pay. So some kids who are older in reception have to pay, some who are younger do not.

There is plenty of money for everyone. Just because poverty has always existed doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive for society where every kid has enough food. Obviously working parents need a breakfast club but I’m specifically talking about clubs funded by the state due to child poverty. It is not ok that in the UK kids are going to school hungry. The cause of this needs to be addressed in the first place so funds can be spent on prevention rather than cure.

I wasn’t saying that you did mention it. I was agreeing with you re: logistics and practicalities of which catering to uncertain numbers is one. There is terrible food waste of ‘free’ resources already at my child’s primary. The milk and fruit there ARE free to infants. I know that can vary per school.

Depends how much the government fund schools, really. That money will have to pay for the staff as well as the food.

I think you’ve raised some valid points however as you have worked in child protection you’ll know that not all neglect is visible, there are children in very middle class homes that suffer neglect and it goes overlooked. So with this being open to all, all children benefit. Maybe we should stop thinking about the positives for parents, but for the children. It’s a great levelling upper, and by being open to all children in need won’t be othered.

How about a decent cereal bar, a banana, a frube and an individual small cheese portion in paper bags-easy to assemble, no cooking , all rubbish to go back in the bag

As a breakfast? It’s not great but there’s worse. But it’s difficult to implement logistically if you’re talking about hundreds of kids, let alone more. Frubes need refrigerating, so does cheese. Bananas are difficult to time for ripeness. Assembling hundreds of paper bags isn’t difficult but it is time and space - consuming. I’m not trying to pick holes but this is a version of my job - I run a food bank, including getting breakfasts to schools, so I’m embroiled in food logistics all day. Bananas are my kryptonite 😉

Oh and a carton of decent multi vit juice (Lidl do them)

How about a decent cereal bar, a banana, a frube and an individual small cheese portion in paper bags-easy to assemble, no cooking , all rubbish to go back in the bag

If you’re talking to me, I’m just talking about the future. At my school, we currently have enough children for 1 member of supervising staff and if any more want to come, they can’t. I was just saying that if everyone is going to be entitled to a place, in future, then we will have to have some sort of booking system otherwise it’ll be mayhem.

No staff are shopping for food in the evenings-there enough bread and cereal in the kitchens for the number we can manage each day. Obviously this would need to be tightened up if a potential 400 more kids might come!

I never mentioned the free fruit and milk.

Also milk isn't free!