Wrap around care for those who don't work??

Doesn't surprise me. There are already a lot of unfilled TA roles in schools. It seems unlikely that adding an hour or two in the mornings for a few of them is going to solve that problem.

Woah! The people you're talking about in your comments are very much in the minority and a lot of what you said comes across very ignorant. I have 2 DC, partner is quite heavily disabled and I care full time for a relative with severe learning disabilities. I also work 2 short evening shifts a week. Sometimes I can't be available for the school run which I single handedly do because I am needed elsewhere to take either of the adults to appointments etc. I use wrap around care for this. I get benefits. I work bloomin' hard for that money. I even spend it on wine when I want to. Everyone deserves a bit of downtime. I know of many families in our school receiving benefits and needing wrap around care at times for many different reasons. God forbid anyone should make sure their child is being cared for in a safe place. There will always be someone who abuses the system, that doesn't mean everyone in that scenario should be punished for it and not benefit from it.

Poster has made a good point, MN is a discussion with different opinions.

Is it really that those parents who use breakfast clubs are ‘usually’ part of a cycle of generational neglect and trauma
Usually means in the majority
of those I’m aware of and from reading here etc they’re using it because they don’t have to do breakfast and it’s free. Before that they did breakfast,
As an alternative educating current children and spotting home neglect and putting the money into supporting those dealing with home neglect would be money well spent.
As a pp said, paying for clubs and breakfast so people can enjoy their tea in peace is ridiculous. Especially when we are on our knees financially.

I agree with other posters that At some point we / the Govn need to find a workable solution to solve issues of neglect…but doing it all for the parents isn’t a solution

It's because I have savings over 16k (which is for a house deposit).

At least I think that's the case but if I'm wrong I'll be happy to find out!

Ridiculous sending that out when people are at work
I do hope you mentioned this to the school.

Do you genuinely believe that all these inadequate parents were raised by good parents who did all the tooth brushing and other general care themselves and have just gone "oh, the state will parent for me so I won't bother!"

Or do you want to use your brain a little and realise the inadequate parents of today are usually part of a cycle of generational neglect and trauma, and these breakfast clubs etc are to hopefully put an end to it so the next generation know better and do better?

We have tried and failed to recruit on such contracts. Offering breakfast club + school day hours or breakfast club+school day+after school club. There was just no interest at all. I teach in a very pleasant village primary school that is extremely appealing as school jobs go.

I agree with the poster you've quoted that 12 hours is 'a few hours a week'. It's barely the equivalent of what 4 year olds do in school over 2 days. It's very very part time.

Awww, that’s a shame, I always think ‘a few’ means more than two but less than four.

Not 12. That’s a dozen.

And you did say “a few per week”, not per day, but I just you were trying to sensationalise.

At my children's school, breakfast and after school wrap around care is not free. Nor is holiday club, which costs £50 a day for 2 children. We struggle financially to pay for this but as we both work it is essential. However parents whose kids get free school meals get all of this free. And I know many of these parents don't work (people I know)

Breakfast clubs and after-school care don't resolve everything that a difficult home life can throw at children, but they help. Breakfast clubs at least ensure that children don't go to class hungry. A belly full of breakfast could well make the difference between getting through maths and PE and not. After-school care could be invaluable to those whose parents are ill, have caring responsibilities, or regular hospital appointments for themselves, their elderly parents, or their other children (radiotherapy treatment for example, is often based at regional centres rather than your nearest hospital, and if it's in the afternoon it can take you well past school home-time.) Or they might simply have children at different schools miles apart. Even the most conscientious people can have complicated lives.

I suspect one of main reasons it it universal, and not on a case-by-case basis, is that this removes any possible stigma attached to attending breakfast club for free. I'm old enough to remember those eligible for free school lunches had to hand over a card and have their names ticked off a list. It made it obvious who received them and resulted in a number of kids not taking it up and going hungry. I know I'd much rather there was an over-provision.

Same here

School offered free breakfast club for all and only free after school clubs for those on low income etc.

Email went out 9:30am on a Monday morning advising all parents who wish to use the free breakfast club for all and after school clubs need to put their children's names down as obviously limited spaces and there's a fee for after school clubs for those not on a low income etc.

Well low and behold I didn't see this until 5pm after I finished work as I can't be checking my emails on work time and tried to out my children's names down but there were no spaces left and to try next term.

One of the mums rubs me up the wrong way as at kids birthdays parties/play dates etc she always says how she's shattered having to get the kids to school early for breakfast club but it's worth it so she can enjoy her morning cuppa at home in peace. You guessed it she doesn't work

A full-time TA would be employed to cover breakfast and/or after school clubs and although you may not get applicants from those wanting school hour jobs, schools may get interest from others who are looking for full-time hours. Increasing the diversity of applications.

I don't think I am saying anything controversial here. Just that schools could find solutions for increasing demand and in doing so add diversity to their employee base.

Schools have not changedin the same way so many businesses and industries have changed during the last 20 years that
I have been in work. Again, I don't think this us a controversial thing to say.

Working parent here. It sounds like a brilliant idea: free wraparound care for all primary school kids. I'd be interested in how the logistics would play out. My DC don't need paid childcare anymore (thank the Lord!) but easy access to childcare would have saved me so much stress over the years. FWIW, mine were both in nursery from 6m old, and then when they started school I had to source reliable childcare that coincided with my nursing shift times (not easy to find at all, and very expensive). From 2007 to 2023, I was paying either nursery fees, childminder fees, wraparound care fees and holiday club (I've got 2 DC and the youngest has just started in secondary).

If the government plan to sort things so that more childcare spaces are available, to more families, then great: it will help working parents, and it will help parents who aren't working (either to get respite or to enable them to study/train/work). If this means that kids in poor and vulnerable situations get to have breakfast, meals, activities, a safe space and some respite, then that's great too.

The secondary school that my youngest has just started at provides free breakfasts for all students. My daughter sometimes goes in early to have breakfast with her school mates before classes start. She doesn't NEED to (we're very fortunate as a family - I'm healthy and able to work FT, we have food in the cupboards and a warm home), but she enjoys it.

For PP who can't understand how this helps kids...like others have said, there'll be plenty of kids whose families don't have food in the house, or don't have the heating on, or can't afford for their kids to do activities and sports clubs etc. This will surely help those kids.

So why is just her you're blaming and not the dad?

Thanks, I didn't know that

Thought this was going to be open to all kids?

If this is the case - the parent needs more intervention. A breakfast club is going to resolve the issues of parental neglect.

Very chaotic home life and there's your answer it's not the kids fault their mother doesn't give a shit. They would rather put things like this in place to prevent kids ending up in the care system. If there's no interventions put in place the kids will grow up to be just like their mother.

To be fair, I think it slightly different with older children - I remember when I was at school I left the house a lot earlier in morning and didn't actually want to eat breakfast, however, I would eat on the way to school therefore, I think I would quite liked a breakfast at school.

I think this is great that it's being made more accessible to other children, even though I'll never benefit from it. DD is unable to go to after school clubs due to her ASD and not being able to cope with it. I can't work because I have to be flexible around the hours she can manage at school.
I would love to be able to use after school club whether I had to pay for it or not. You should feel lucky that you can.

I lost any coherence in the OPs rationale as there was so much ranting.

Yes they should be priority

I do not oppose the idea; however, it seems unusual for you to enroll your child in a breakfast club if you are not employed. I believe that after-school clubs can incorporate extracurricular activities, and I have no issue with parents choosing to send their children to such programs. Nonetheless, if the sole purpose is childcare, it appears rather peculiar.