Free School Breakfasts.

[gonaenodaethat]

Our local council has just announced that they will be providing free school breakfasts from September to all children who wish to 'opt in'. This is to counteract the fact that a lot of children don't get breakfast and studies show that children perform better in school if they have eaten in the morning.
Now, at first I thought this was a good idea, all the poor wee souls who get shoved out without breakfast in the morning will benefit.
However, then a more mean spirited part of me started to think - Hang on, is it really the school's responsibility, and also why should council funds (already stretched) pay for this just because some parents can't be bothered to give their children a couple of Weetabix in the morning?
What do others think?

I always imagine it is the children that are always late for school that don't get the breakfast, so not sure how that would work as they would need to get to school earlier.
I'm still waiting for our dc to be offered a cooked meal at lunchtime.

Good idea. I know what you mean about unfair that council funds should be spent because some people aren't decent parents but that's not the childrens' fault.

I love your posting name, gonaenodaethat.

This breakfast thing - is this a genuine attempt to provide a bit of stability for vulnerable children, or is it just another element of the wrap around care offered by schools?

Soon parents won't have to bother dropping off or picking their children up at all - just go and wave at them in the playground once every couple of days.

I'm not sure. The information leaflet talks about families who 'oversleep' but it doesn't make it clear when the breakfast will be available. I'm just hoping it doesn't eat into school time.
On the other hand it talks about providing 'a safe and sociable' environment for children to eat in which makes me feel like a bitch for slightly begrudging them this if they don't already have it at home.

Thanks Bette re name. Worried people might think it was foreign.

It shouldn't be the schools responsibility, but if they don't feed the children properly, who will?

Why should the kids suffer.

and to a degree it is going to help the teachers and support staff since behaviour will probably improve in some of these kids.

And the other kids in the class will benefit, because the standard of behaviour improves

I'm generally in favour of councils spending money as early as possible in children's lives to start making some difference to them, as it usually works out a lot cheaper than dealing with the results later. If these children are better able to get an education (and as mb says, better prepared to concentrate and not disrupt the rest of the class), then maybe they won't be the ones coming out of secondary school barely literate and unable to get a job.

It dsepends on what suffers in order for the breakfast to be paid for. Will it mean reduced quality in the lunches? What are they going to feed them? Scrambled organic eggs on wholemeal toast with beans sounds great. White bread with jam -- not so great.

I don't mind the breakfasts in principal. I do take the point that school funds are being channeled away from educational expenses. But, as others have pointed out, this will actually enhance the behaviour in the class room. So perhaps it is good for everyone.

However, I would not be happy about being forced to pay higher council tax so my kids can have a worse breakfast than what they would have at home.

Athene, it's not out of school funds. It's a separate council budget.

I think I'm just in a bad mood 'cos it came on the same day as my Council Tax Bill.

Imagine you are a child from a chaotic/dysfunctional home with neglect occurring daily due to the parent(s) problems in coping with life in general.

You are left to get your own breakfast (if your parents have remembered to keep bread/milk/cereal in the house). You may already be getting free school lunches because someone hopefully takes action if you turn up daily with no packed lunch. Your tea/supper depends on whether there is food in the house or money for a takeaway or a trip to the corner shop for something highly processed but easy to heat up.

Assuming that children require 21 basic meals a week (breakfast/lunch/tea 7 days a week) and only 5 are taken care of as nutritionally balanced and appropriate via school lunches, doesn't the prospect of another 5 being added sound like a good idea ? Those really in need can then benefit and start the school day on a level playing field with those who have had a good breakfast at home. (Possibly those who went to bed hungry can also have a third weetabix too!)

Unfortunately, the dysfunctional parent(s) may also neglect to get the children to breakfast on time, but that's another problem. If school drop off time were say half an hour earlier to allow for breakfast it would also help some parent(s) save money on before school childcare and enable others to catch earlier trains/buses to work so I do see it as a good plan over all but I worry about the funding aspect.

I know you're right sitdown. I think I just feel sad that necessary.
I suppose that if you are a struggling parent it's one less thing to worry about and this may improve things overall for the children.

Some of the children that I teach can't use a knife and fork properly at the age of 14, because they never eat proper food.

We may snigffily turn our noses up at toast and jam, but this is, in all probability a big step forward for these kids,many of whom will otherwise have a breakfast of a mards bar and a can of red bull.

It doesn't have to be organic to give them the basic nutition that they need. A glass of milk or orange juice and a bacon roll will give them complex carbs, fats and proteins.

Organic hand coddled eggs can wait a while I think.....

Well, the money is going to have to come from somewhere. And, does the council have a say in what the LEA's budget is? (maybe not, just speculating).

I don't mind helping children whose parents are failing them -- after all they are kids. But, I would object to this IF the money is being spent unwisely on crappy food like processed manky white bread and sugar loaded jam. Scrambled eggs on wholemeal I could support.

And if school dinners are anything to go by, then I'd be inclined to think the breakfast might be a bit less than wholesome.

I suppose I'm a sceptic or ita it a realist but I would want to know more about what is on offer to whom and what it will cost before I could really say whether this a good idea.

They will be offering cereal, toast and fruit. The school lunches are actually quite healthy and they're following on from there.
MB I seem to remember from previous posts that we may be in the same council area.

Our lunches are also excellent, and we have a first rate salad bar as well and excellent hot food choices.

Our school offers toast, ceriel, fruit and bacon rolls. All following the healthy schoosl initiative

We don't get that here, but it would certainly help us- not because I am a neglectful aprent (my kids eat well) but because ds1 eats very little at home and I wonder if he would eat more in a group setting? It would of course also be one less thing to worry about in the mornings, I guess! .

I wouldn't trust it though in relaity as the school meals are terrible (don't think we've bought into the whole JO thing: still chips twice a weeks and hotdogs etc)- nice idea though.

Agree with MartianBishop - the benefits of free school breakfasts will hopefully be two-fold: ensuring that kids actually eat something in the morning (health and behaviour benefits), and improving eating skills - learning how to use a knife and fork and sit at a table to eat. Remember that meal times for a number of kids consists of eating a pizza or KFC on their bedroom floor with their Gameboy.

I drive past kids in the mornings that I teach, making their way to school eating cakes from the bakers and sweets for their 'walk along breakfast.' Then some Diet Coke and a fag.

I think that it needs to be spelt out to parents why this action is being taken, or some may view it is as yet another opportunity to duck their responsibilities to their own kids.

"Imagine you are a child from a chaotic/dysfunctional home with neglect occurring daily due to the parent(s) problems in coping with life in general."

I teach in a primary school and last week one of my children asked if she could have another snack as she was hungry and didn't think she had had her breakfast. "a child from a chaotic/dysfunctional home with neglect occurring daily due to the parent(s) problems in coping with life in general?" NO a child from a middle class home who's parents had dropped her off at her private day nursery where she is cared for before and after school.