To think that funding free breakfast clubs is wrong-headed?

I answered this above.

The feedback from schools at a time when so many children live in poverty is that many children come to school hungry.
The evidence shows that sitting together to eat rather than eating on the fly is good, that eating breakfast is good, that it is better for families in poverty if childcare is provided, making it easier to find a job, that children are more likely to attend and be on time if food is provided.
So, kids get fed, classroom behaviour is better, standards raise, a few more parents are working so morale improves a bit.
So what are we moaning about? That the people who are already paying for wraparound care might not get a place? The number of places will increase the more that take-up does.
That the amount per child that the government is offering is too low? We said that when free school meals for everyone in KS1 came in but it somehow worked out. ( it would have worked out even better if everyone who could pay for school dinners gave a donation to the school; maybe we could do something like that for breakfast clubs? )
Economies of scale mean that it will cost less per head to run if there is more take-up.
The government has come up with a sensible plan and are offering money towards it. Isn't it up to us (the community at large) to make it work for our local schools?
This is the first step towards free childcare for school aged children. It's too important to let it fail by nitpicking the problems rather than finding solutions.

Because it's all about control.

Precisely this, I didn't use a breakfast club when mine were in primary school because I couldn't afford breakfast, I used it because I had to be at work by 8.30.

Was it not the case that the VAT was raised for private schools and shifted in to these programs?

Breakfast is also the cheapest meal to fund! It helps working parents who can drop the kids earlier. It improves punctuality and attendance. It enables children from chaotic homes to be able to start the day on a full stomach (because there was no bread or milk at home). It means teachers like me don't have to go to school with a bunch of bananas for those children who didn't get breakfast before school. Lewisham has been doing free buttered bagels for primary children for several years and I am sure the positive impact of this has been taken into account in this decision.

40g of oats is correct, it's what I make for myself, ok a teenager would need more but once cooked that's a decent amount.

This school has now confirmed its pulling out, it can't make the finances work.

BBC News - Bacup school concerned about 'unviable' breakfast club scheme - BBC News
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgwmx2vyx9o

What in the actual fuck do you honestly think is worth spending money on if not ensuring that every child starts the day with food to eat?

I’d far rather spend £1000 on feeding children who otherwise would go hungry than buying extra textbooks for the children at the top of class to do extra etc.

Before you start looking improving schools the absolute basic is to ensure every child starts that day with a meal.

They dont give a shit about the kids. Its to make sure parents get to work School is now childcare

How os giving a kid a coke and pack of crisps a sign of poverty? I'd say quite a waste of money of a breakfast (apart from a very unhealthy one), a glass of milk and toast would be cheaper

What would you rather the money be spent on?

My school (secondary) provides free breakfast for all. About 40% are eligible for free school meals, but overall it's very deprived area; we also have lots of asylum seeker children with no recourse to public funds.
We see children literally running in on Monday morning, it’s their first proper meal since Friday lunchtime. It’s also a really joyful part of the school day, seeing children sitting together eating breakfast.
Hungry children aren’t able to learn. They need more support in other ways during the day. It improves attendance. It takes the pressure off other children who are less in need. Easier to teach engaged children. It’s a small part of the school budget in comparison.

Raw oats for breakfast, sounds lovely.

How miserly do you need to be to begrudge a child an extra 30 mins a day to be safe, warm, and get a piece of toast? What is wrong with some of you- why does it actually have to be about you- a covert government plan to get you off your arse and into work? Look past the end of your own damned nose.

@WaahWaahWinston
I work at a school where a sizeable group of parents would rather spend money on alcohol, drugs, nails & beauty treatments rather than their kids. Some of the teenagers hang out at the nearest exhibition centre to stay warm. Their parents would rather they did this then heat the house.

One of the teens was bought a meal by a man, nothing happened afterwards. However, the next week she was also given £20 by the same man. Can you see where this could potentially lead to? However, the girl's mum demanded that she returned regularly so she could get more money. Basically the mum was pimping her own dd out for cash.

When you're poor there are less options open to you & you make risky choices. The social services are now involved with this family as they are well known for not spending money on their children. If there was compulsory breakfast at school then these kids would be fed and be monitored more.

A loaf of bread is less.
so is a pack of porridge oats.
I’m afraid it’s nonsense to suggest that people feed their kids on crisps for breakfast because it’s saving them money.

@daffodilandtulip and @IDontDrinkTea are absolutely on the nose with this. It's all about getting children into school on time and mothers into work. We are a trial area for these free breakfast clubs.

One of my friends on UC who is on a job centre course has already been told by the job centre that her child needs to attend the free breakfast club at her child's school so her job search can be widened to more than school hours and failure to widen her job search will lead to sanctions. So it will be used a stick to beat people with when it's rolled out.

If only there was somewhere that you could look up the facts of what’s being offered and to whom before you start another government bashing thread.

educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2024/11/free-school-breakfast-clubs/

If you buy a multi pack of crisps it's a few pence, same with coke. Some people haven't been brought up to understand nutrition and can't afford decent food. You'll notice that there's a lot of obesity associated with poverty.

I witness primary aged kids that don’t go to school because neither parent (living separately) can be bothered to organise themselves into a routine to achieve it. No proper meals organised. Just a takeaway burger eaten whilst being ferried about in a car. Lots of kids who need this structure won’t get it anyway

Build it and they will come.

You feel 40g of oats is a sufficient breakfast? Are your children six months old?