To think that free breakfast at school is a bad idea due to the quality?

@feelingbleh i feel that’s the issue. It is on the parents and many can’t be arsed, have other priorities and that’s many of the well heeled families. I know a few kids in genuine dire need, but society says as long as they’re fed it doesn’t matter if it’s lacking nutrients & substance. It’s wrong. Same as the attitude to lunch, meals & school nutrition in the secondary schools, no salad bars here it’s UPF shite, leading to poor focus etc, longer term health issues, etc which is a government & societal problem.

You are probably right, but isn’t this what we should be concentrating on, helping parents who have possibly been born in to the case system themselves and parents in general that need support?
breaking the cycle, not a sticking plaster which gets headlines and buys votes.

Chicken wings for breakfast? Now I’m confused!

The breakfast club’s here tend to be operated in a classroom by a TA. They have a toaster in the corner, and some of them offer cereal. My mam is in charge of the one at the school where she works. She isn’t actually paid to start until 815, when the children arrive. She has neither the space/facilities or the time to make porridge.

It can be easier said than done though, especially with other variables that don't always include poverty such as dietary needs, SEN etc.

Wholemeal bread would land my child in the hospital.

So how do you tackle that ?

Absolutely. SS don’t come along and wave a magic wand, siblings are separated, the care system causes lasting trauma for many.
Id prefer those kids to get a piece of toast and a hot chocolate

9/11/15.

Where did I say they should be taken away first not getting whole meal bread?

I said if they are going to school under, unclothed and dirty.

If a free breakfast helps a child get through the day then that should come first

How old are your kids?

if kids are going to school unfed, unclothed and dirty, why the hell are they still with their parents?

Because the outcome for those in the care of the state is worse,

I thought the purpose of the breakfast clubs was not actually the breakfast but the childcare so people could get to work earlier

So this is what the govt should be tackling and spending on.

not free breakfast fir a lot of families who can afford to feed their children.

Eggs on whole meal , avo on whole meal, peanut butter on wholemeal, porridge with a teaspoon of Nutella on a Friday, weetabix. Always with fruits.
different everyday as variety is so important. These things take minutes to prepare.

we have only ever offered whole meal, and only water. I dint get it when people say their kids will only drink juice…..they weren’t drinking it in the womb, were they? They only know what juice is because it’s been given to them at some point.

The ‘free’ breakfasts rolled out by Labour have to be provided for just 60p per pupil per day.

I disagree with universal free breakfasts. I think most parents can and should be providing breakfast for their children.

Because the threshold to remove children from their parents is necessarily very very high indeed and not getting wholemeal bread and weetabix isn't that threshold.

There's a very famous quote from a High Court family case, “…society must be willing to tolerate very diverse standards of parenting, including the eccentric, the barely adequate and the inconsistent. It follows too that children will inevitably have both very different experiences of parenting and very unequal consequences flowing from it. It means that some children will experience disadvantage and harm, while others will flourish in atmospheres of loving security and emotional stability. These are the consequences of our fallible humanity and it is not the provenance of the state to spare children all the consequences of defective parenting. In any event, it simply could not be done.”

But that's on the parents. The government and teachers can't raise every child in this country

For some children, food at school might be the only food they get during the day. Anything to reduce the empty tummy and give them a bit of brain boost has to be better than nothing.
To provide breakfast club or toast during soft start, schools are needing to pay a staff member to make the food. Often with no budget provision to do this. It's not unheard of for teachers to bring in cereal for their class if school doesn't have a breakfast club. If you've got a very limited budget, you go cheap and cheerful.
To really find out what's happening in schools, you could send a FOI request to each academy chain (and / or the local authority if you're not in England) to ask what their menu is for breakfast and lunch provision. Or it might be on their website.

It’s not available at my son’s school for free and I wouldn’t need to send him in. It’s better than some children going hungry though.

Where I work the children always have access to fruit, cooked veg and salad (for lunch, that is). Many of the older children in particular will not take much, if any, of these things. They also complain the food is tasteless as due to health reasons, salt etc isn't used.

As for white bread / crumpets / bagels for breakfast etc - they all have the same basic ingredients. Plus children need carbohydrate and fat in a balanced diet. And there's no point serving what they won't eat.

And free breakfasts are aimed mainly at those who go without or have a pack of crisps on the way to school, not the children of middle class museli/ home made bread eaters with plenty of fruit on the side.

If it doesn't appeal, don't send your children to have breakfast.

You clearly have no idea about the care system and SS. Spend a few days in a school in a deprived area and you will have your eyes opened.

You’re talking breakfasts though? Hardly going to be fry ups (nor pizzas and nuggets). I can’t see what unhealthy food is going be on offer for breakfast. I would imagine cereals, maybe breakfast bars.

This ! So much utter naivety on this thread

If children are hungry and that’s what they are offered, they will.

or whole meal bread, weetabix , etc….lots of cheap and healthier cereals.

I stand by my point am that we are enabling poor parenting and neglect.

if kids are going to school unfed, unclothed and dirty, why the hell are they still with their parents?