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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to think that breakfast clubs shouldn't be free?

183 replies

Undercovamutha · 22/02/2010 13:24

I have just found our that our local school's breakfast club is free of charge. Apparently this is due to an initiative that is designed to ensure that children (especially those from low income families) eat healthily at breakfast time, and learn that breakfast is an extremely important meal.

I totally agree with this BUT my DD is not from a low income family (although we are by no means wealthy), and the reason we will need the breakfast club is due to work/school start times being difficult to manage. When I was asking the school about how the breakfast club works, they admitted that ALL the parents who send their children to the club do so for the same reason as I will be. Therefore, it is not doing what the funding is there for.

Now I DO NOT want the breakfast club to close as it is essential to me and many others, but surely it should be acknowledged why it is actually in existance - which is not to ensure low income kids eat well, but to ensure that working parents can drop their kids off at 8!

Whilst I haven't exactly got pots of money to spare, I certainly wouldn't mind at the very least paying the cost of the breakfast.

OP posts:

Morloth · 22/02/2010 13:26

Really not seeing the problem here. You are actually objecting to not paying for something in order that it can be made available to everyone?

twotimes · 22/02/2010 13:28

err what's your problem?

BAFE · 22/02/2010 13:29

YANBU - this is one of my pet hates too.

Because a few feckless parents don't feed their kids, we all have to pretend we're feckless parents and not pay for the breakfast club, so the feckless parents don't have hurt feelings.

In Scotland in some places the local authority has had to step in and provide free lunches too

Feed your own kids, I say.

GypsyMoth · 22/02/2010 13:30

breakfast clubs should NOT just be so working parents can drop their kids off earlier than everyone else...

object? pay a childminder!

Morloth · 22/02/2010 13:31

It is like the Twilight Zone, I am usually quite happy when I don't have to spend money on something.

Original poster

Undercovamutha · 22/02/2010 13:32

It IS available to everyone - and is therefore not doing what it was intended to do. It is disguising the REAL need of parents who work to have wraparound care, by coming up with a healthy eating scheme for low income families.

Everyone knows that the parents who use the free club are not doing so for the reason the funding is there for, but because they need to be able to drop their kids of at 8.

I will be doing the same, but totally expected to have to pay SOMETHING - just as I have for playgroup/nursery in the past. It just seems like the funding is being wasted IYSWIM.

OP posts:

Morloth · 22/02/2010 13:34

So you know for a fact that every single child at the breakfast club is there because their parents are working?

You would prefer to pay and potentially exclude some kids?

BAFE · 22/02/2010 13:34

Of course breakfast clubs should just so working parents can drop their kids off earlier than everyone else.

Who else could possibly have a need for them?

diddl · 22/02/2010 13:35

well if the school know it´s being used as free childcare & not the intended purpose then they should close it or charge.

How do you discover that a child doesn´t have a healthy breakfast & therefore needs to go?

I think I saw one on TV & it was jam on white bread, so I´m thinking more appropriate to those getting no breakfast?

Poshpaws · 22/02/2010 13:36

Maybe it's the only way that the school could get the funding? Possibly needing a certain amount of people to use it to be able to establish a breakfast club and the only way to achieve that was to claim it can be used to promote healthy eating? (Not sure if that makes any sense?)

Wish DSs school one was free

HappyMummyOfOne · 22/02/2010 13:37

I dont think YABU. The funding could be far better spend on actual education or hospitals rather than what it was intended for.

Our government is so worried about keeping voters that it will use every gimmick possible to do so - free laptops, free breakfast, benefits as a lifestyle choice etc. We need to make parents responsible for providing for their children rather than letting the government do it in so many areas.

OP, you could always offer to make a donation each term to the school (most have a charity PTA etc) that could be spent on new toys/books for the club.

juneybean · 22/02/2010 13:37

Are you against the fact your kid has to socialise with the riffraff?

GypsyMoth · 22/02/2010 13:38

are there limits on how many places there are?

is that the problem?

i would imagine that the supervisors arent all teachers,so it limits the amont of kids they can take? or not?

TrinityIsFuckingTrying · 22/02/2010 13:39

what is wrong with free school meals?

should I not be getting free school meals

Am I missing something
I am in process of applying for free school meals

fernie3 · 22/02/2010 13:39

I dont see the problem I think its great they are offering this free for whatever reason.
I just wish they would do the same with school dinners, my daughter is always asking for school dinners because her friends have them but they are just too expensive (lunchboxes are much cheaper!). I also wish they let the school dinners and lunchbox people sit together but that's a whole other discussion.

misdee · 22/02/2010 13:39

we pay for breakfast club. it works well for us, as on fridays dd1 has choir practise at 8.15, so i drop all the kiddos off at 8, instead of making two younger ones hang around for 30mins or making two journies. and on fridays they get bacon rolls

BAFE · 22/02/2010 13:41

Nothing wrong with free school lunches for children that are entitled to them Trinity. The OP is talking about free food for all the children.

twotimes · 22/02/2010 13:43

Free food for all children yep that's a crime

Original poster

Undercovamutha · 22/02/2010 13:43

Morloth - of course I have no problem with low income families benefitting from the funding - I'm sure it can be incredibly beneficial. However, I do think that those who are not low income should have to at least pay the direct costs.

And I don't see what the problem is re. working parents using breakfast clubs as a kind of childcare? I only work half days so can pick up from school, but am not able to drop off at 9. When both my DCs have started school I will be able to change my hours to school hours, but really need the breakfast club in the interim.

However, I do feel happy to pay for the breakfast the school will be providing for my child - I think that is the right thing to do. Maybe I should just make a PTA donation instead .

OP posts:

swanandduck · 22/02/2010 13:44

YANBU. It is taxpayers' money which is meant to be used for underprivileged, undernourished children, but is actually going to comfortably off, well fed kids because their parents need to drop them off early at schoold to get to work. That is plain wrong.

BAFE · 22/02/2010 13:44

See, the real problem here is that people are so excited about getting something for nothing that it blinds them to how it really looks.

It looks bad that the government has to step in and provide free food for all the children. Parents should be paying for their childrens food. Not having an orgasm coz they can get their kids a free bowl of cereal in the morning Whooopieee(not)

TrinityIsFuckingTrying · 22/02/2010 13:45

It was your comment that I meant BAFE

'In Scotland in some places the local authority has had to step in and provide free lunches too ' by BAFE

What do you mean?

You can only get free school meals by being on child tax credit but no working tax.

You have to prove it

I am in the process of trying to do it at the mo

Why is that ?

Mumcentreplus · 22/02/2010 13:45

Bluddy hell i wish ours was free £2.50 per child per day really adds up when you have 2..

why cant it be used for both?..I always thought breakfast club was for working parents??

AppleTreeWick · 22/02/2010 13:46

I do (I think) get where you're coming from Undercovamutha and it might be around targeting & access?

If the rationale for public money being spent in a deprived area (and I am all in favour) is to help low income families or families with specific needs then great. But if in actual fact everyone taking advantage of the service isn't low income or in specific need then there is an issue around targeting and access.

Often I feel the staff running schemes (at least in my area) don't do the hard work of targeting difficult to reach families. And the easy to reach families (like mine) fill the places fast.

OP: Give the school a donation? Suggest others do the same or join the fundraising committee?

Mumcentreplus · 22/02/2010 13:48

and why cant my tax be spent on providing good healthy meals for ALL children no matter their back-ground???...I dont get what the issue is...are you worried people think you are bad parents who dont feed their children a proper breakfast?

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