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.

If a parent is receiving benefits for their child, and are choosing to not feed their child breakfast. (Or dinner, during term time, or weekend, holidays)
Then shouldn’t the £1 for breakfast be deducted from their benefits?

I am fully aware that on benefits choices about spending are the difference between having £ for food, clothing, holiday and/or having nothing.

I totally hear you, it was degrading and stigmatising. Excellent point well made 👍.

However, the evidence suggests that children who do not attend preschool or nursery start school behind (in all the measures you mentioned and in academic learning) and stay behind their peers throughout their education, hence why the 15 funded hours for 2 yos of parents on benefits was introduced.

Maybe you were a super-SAHM who had a sparkling routine involving a great balance of adult-directed activities and child-led play but I think many SAHMs THINK they are doing lots for their children's development but really struggle to keep motivation and consistency going over the long term and end up bored, lonely and relying on Netflix a lot whilst trying to muster up the energy to tidy up the never-ending mess that comes with children at home all day.

The best balance for me was part-time work which left me with enough energy to spend 2 full days doing fun things with my daughter. My role changed slightly and I had to go full time, but now she's due to start school in September anyway. And she is fully potty trained and able to dress herself- at last check she can change from her uniform to her PE kit and back again all the way to shoes and socks in 9 minutes.

But isn’t that if the working parent meets the AET and if they are self employed that’s not counted at all ? So some parents will be pressured . That’s another thing the fact they disregard self employed earnings from the AET ? That’s not right as for some families self employment works around their circumstances

What a desperately sad story, thank you for sharing.

Poor little thing , that’s just like the Matilda story 😔

It’s a good question. Going the way of most Scandinavian countries and paying maternity pay (at a significantly higher rate than is currently offered) for 2 years would be a good start.

reducing interest rates so that I’m not paying 6% interest on my mortgage

properly capping the cost of utilities so that gas and electric doesn’t cost an arm and a leg

these would be my top 3.

If really open to ALL, how are they going to manage all the disabilities, behavioural, learning issues at the breakfast club? Surely any provision made during the school day should be extended to breakfast club but this would be a logistical nightmare if open to the whole school. The vulnerable kids who really need the 'free' toast and somewhere safe to go in the morning will be the only ones excluded because there wont be enough trained staff to deal with it all. Will TAs and 1:1s be expected to start at 7.30am?

The British school day is really short and badly designed.

Short?

When my eldest started school at 6 here in Germany it was 8-12!

After he had been there 2yrs it was extended to 8-1.15!

At 2ndry school hours were 8-1.15 with a couple of days being 8-4.

I agree those are all very good ideas

And you say that several of them have special needs so you need to be at home. I get that.

But then implying that other families where both parents work and have happy well-adjusted kids thriving in childcare, with brilliant relationships with their parents, as ‘eroding family life’, you lose credibility. I am sorry that you have a lot to juggle, but many working parents have very stable and content family lives.

I wish I had had breakfast clubs when mine were little. Would have made my first hospital consultant job a bit easier! We muddled through somehow but breakfast clubs would have been a godsend. Nothing to do with money or laziness in our case, just logistics.

And for the pp, mine were both toilet-trained, able to dress themselves and eat properly by the time they went to school. Despite us both working. Who would have thought it was possible ;-)

Maybe I was wrong and should have said eroding choices ?

Re punctuality, My husband and I both have ADHD and my daughter's school opens at 8:30 for running club but doesn't register until 8:50- this is actually brilliant for us because we can aim for 8:30 and have a 20 minute buffer zone before we are late. I imagine we're not alone in that. We earn above average but would use a breakfast club because I think my daughter would enjoy eating breakfast with her friends; we give enough to the PTA to more than cover the cost.

We shouldn't need prisons because people shouldn't commit crimes either, but here we are.

I can't work out if you're being goady or just wilfully obtuse. Either way, it's unnecessary.

They shouldn't all be free but they are a good idea for those who need to use them.

I think it’s a sticking plaster - the root cause needs to be addressed.

Families where parents are drug takers or alcoholics are my main concern - hence the kids aren’t washed or dressed or fed.

The poor behaviour at the end of each term from those kids dreading being hungry/bored etc was appalling - and SS being so underfunded would tell the parents not to do drugs in front of the kids.

I think by giving out breakfast, improving the kids attendance and ensuring they eat, only hides bigger issues that aren’t being addressed.

Yes I think in an ideal world everyone would have a choice of course.

They of course given current gender structures, we could argue about what really is a free ‘choice’ when it comes to mothers working. But that’s another thread.;-)

I absolutely agree about eroding choices and I think women went from being forced to be a SAHM (whether they wanted to or not) to being given the illusion of choice (you can have it all!). We also don't value the unpaid work that is mostly done by women that props up the economy.
I still agree with breakfast club provision!

When we lived in Denmark we had a primary at the end of the road- at 8.10am you could see the children sat in round tables chatting with a helper and eating cereal, toast and bowls of fruit- it was free and a universal offering and looked nicely ordered. Personally I thought it was a great idea and looked to be more about 'ordered socialisation' no running around etc. it's not compulsory- and most parents took advantage it seems, started earlier and were finished at 4.30 - they had after school club too where food was offered.

The Universal FSM is not currently fully funded.

I assume this will not be.

What will schools cut to fund this like they did with the UFSM?

Where’s the money going to come from? What you suggest is a double whammy - the cost of your ideas + the loss of tax income from people choosing not to work.

But with respect, why would the government want to incentivise SAHPs of any gender? I can understand why someone wants to do it and the benefits this can have for children, but looking at it from the govt point of you, a parent who leaves the workforce to be a SAHP is unlikely to return and at best will not be paying income tax, at worst will be claiming benefits. If your job is to build a strong economy and you are only looking at the outcomes over a 4 year term, there's no positives to having a lot of SAHPs.

Have you ever been un a school? The children absolutely know who is on FSM and who isn't, from as young as Year 2.

Yes I agree it feels like in the past there was no choice just be a SAHM! Now there’s no choice again - Be economically active, work. Provide the second income to survive etc etc. who sets these requirements for women , men probably !

Hey in my world, all mums would return to work until there was true equality in the workplace and no gender pay gap. I went back full time when mine were babies. But I still think people need a choice.