Free breakfast clubs for ALL primary school children? Why?

[Safi7]

I’ve been overseas since the election so a bit out of the loop, but is it true that Labour are going to make it standard that all primary schools must now offer free breakfasts to all children, regardless of need?

Fair enough for children from deprived families - but all children?

Where is the money for this coming from?

Are Labour actually saying that in 2024, its now to much to expect parents to actually bother to feed their own children breakfast? This responsibility can just be pushed onto schools instead - as if they haven’t got enough on? Teachers are leaving in droves as it is. Du much is out in them - the jobs is becoming more like social work in too many cases. Who will staff these breakfast clubs and make sure kids are actually eating?

Surely this is just encouraging lazy parenting - ie parents who can well afford cereal / toast / eggs etc it but just won’t bother if their kids can eat at school instead. Plus children will be dumped at school earlier than necessary, just because parents can now get away with it?

Surely it’s better to direct resources where they are actually needed, rather than turn schools into free cafes? Makes no sense.

Are the majority of parents you know unemployed?

No

So how do they currently get their children to school for 8:50ish and get to work on time?

I’m a teacher, I can tell you when we run SATS breakfast for year six they all turn up on time and focus well.
If a universal breakfast club has the same effect it can only be a good thing.

I think it might be less to do with 'breakfast' and more to do with extended school hours allowing working parents to get to work?

Provoking but I’ll bite.

perhaps they point is to ensure all children have a meal to start they day, including those with “lazy parents”. As you’ve been out of the country perhaps you’ve missed the cost of living crisis which means that even people in professional jobs are relying on food banks?

So many other things wrong that should be causing this frothing at the mouth but let’s ignore all of that and focus on children being give something to eat.

So is it about parents getting to work earlier / on time then?

i think it's more childcare aspect than the actual food

A third of the children in the UK live in absolute poverty, their families don’t have enough money to feed them. The universal free school meal scheme has shown that uptake of free food services are higher when it’s universal. It’s go away to helping with childcare issues so parents can work. They’re hoping it will help with school attendance which is currently very low.

30 per cent of children are living in poverty and plenty more don't have breakfast for other reasons. The numbers in poverty are rising. So yes i think it makes sense to offer it to all, though I’m not sure how practical it is for schools to deliver.

As there isn't 100% take up for free school meals, I think your assumption that parents will all take advantage of the free toast is probably not correct. And most parents won't be chomping at the bit to get up earlier than needed, either.

DC's secondary school has always offered free breakfast. The take up levels are not that high.

It wouldn't be staffed by teachers I'd imagine and a lot of behavioural issues in school are down to hungry children. We have free school meals in Scotland for all primary children. Most civilised countries do tbh

I would presume the teachers and other staff connected to schools are the best people to comment and not some random who has decided for them?

DS goes to a school that's around 40% fsm eligible children, the school already offer breakfast club and it's free if you're eligible for fsms the only people who use it are those on higher incomes who are commuting into London and they pay, it's also largely cereal, and toast so not exactly substantial. I don't think it will be used by the families whose children need it most. I also say this from the perspective of someone whose husband works in youth criminal justice and mental health (10+) , the children who need it most are hardest to reach. A breakfast club won't overcome those barriers. An overhaul of children's services is desperately needed

At our (secondary) school, breakfast club is for those children who find it tricky to transition from home to school, and require a 'soft landing' whereby they can chat to friendly staff and students before the hustle and bustle of school starts.

Most of our pupils won't come to breakfast club, but if there are attendance/anxiety issues, they can be a really useful tool in alleviating stress around school.

Why would breakfast help with school attendance?
If parents can’t be arsed to take their kids to school, they still won’t bother, especially if its earlier in the morning.

There are already breakfast clubs for all children, it's just some parents have to pay for it.

Even free, I don't think the idea is it's COMPULSORY so some kids won't go

It allows working parents chance to get to work

Usually it's support staff like office staff and TAs that run them, not teachers I believe.

Feeding kids isn't something we should resent.

It’s likely easier to implement universally than to start means-testing etc, and it makes it less stigmatising.

I mean, I’d like the government to actually deal with the underlying issue of why so much of the population is in poverty, but if they want sticking plasters this one seems ok.

It will help attendance because its a soft start and because if you aim to get to school early for breakfast you are more likely to arrive in time for lessons.

Yes, of course it is.
Most places I have worked are 8am - 4 or 4:30pm.
My DC always had breakfast at home....

School attendance is way more complicated than parents you ‘can’t be arsed’.

Attendance isn't about whether parents can be arsed getting up and taking kids to school. It is an extremely complex picture involving mental health, neurodivergence, psychological safety, post-COVID factors and difficulty with transitions. Anything that mitigates these factors is something schools should provide.

It’s not just about the breakfast; it’s to make it easier for parents to work by providing free childcare before school. That is a good thing.

Also, if it was only for families below a certain income level, means-testing could potentially be more expensive than simply rolling it to everyone, and also some schools would literally only have one or two children below the income threshold, which would be massively stigmatising for them.

Plus, some parents are shit parents even if they’re well-off. It is a good thing for all children to have the same opportunities, regardless of who their parents are.

As a kid of the 70’s I had to line up outside the school secretary office to get a ticket for my free school dinner. This set me apart from others who didn’t get free meals, and was quite humiliating. It’s better to offer all a free breakfast, not all will take it up.

But if it was mainly about parents getting to work in time, they could just start earlier?