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School Breakfast/After School Clubs cut?

55 replies

Hammy02 · 14/10/2010 14:49

On the news this morning it was mooted that breakfast/after school clubs are to be cut. I didn't think they were funded by the schools themselves anyway so WTF? As the news was live, I was amazed to see kids there at 7:30am. Is this normal? I must be out of touch.

OP posts:
2shoeprintsintheblood · 15/10/2010 08:37

I don't agree with it,but surely they can just up the prices to cover costs

Greythorne · 15/10/2010 08:38

stix
what breakfast foodstuffs do you object to?

I think most clubs serve toast, crumpets, milk, normal (but non sugary cereal, so corn flakes, not Frosties)....this seems completely normal to me.

cory · 15/10/2010 09:36

Round my way, after school clubs were never cheaper than the local childminders anyway, so not so much of an advantage, particularly as childminders stay open during school holidays (or find a substitute).

Strix · 15/10/2010 10:08

This is my object to our breakfast club. It cam home with the following statement:

"Breakfast is provided each day and comprises a selection of cereals, toast, juice, milk or water. Croissants, waffles, pancakes and muffins are offered regularly."

What kind of cereal? Branflakes: thumb up; coco puffs: two thumbs down
Is there nutrasweet in the jucie/waffles/muffins, etc? If so, get it away from my kids. Good sugar I'm okay wait.
If the toast is crappy white bread, then that's not good enough. Wholemeal / brown bread can be sourced at low cost.
croissants, waffles, pancakes, muffins... where is the nutrition on which these kids need to be fed to start the day??? I'm okay with any of these things once in a while (say once a week max, but not as the main meal) Sugary crap is okay between meals. But if it is served for the main meal then there is nutrition to be had in the day.

Are we or are we not in support of heathy meals. I get note home about chocolate and crisps in lunch boxes, but I would much rather my children eat a healthy meal followed by crap that just eat the crap.

Strix · 15/10/2010 10:09

object objection

Litchick · 15/10/2010 10:39

I think we need to ask the schools who is accessing these clubs.

If it is working parents using it as childcare then the cost needs to be comparable.
If it is realitively well off families using it for convenience, then the state should not be subsidising. It should run at cost price.

If it is poor children who are on free school meals...then I can't see why breakfast shouldn't be free also. But something simple, nutricious, filling and cheap.

MollieO · 15/10/2010 10:51

We don't have before or after school clubs at our local school which is one of the reasons I had to send ds to private school. Wraparound care from 7.30am to 6.30pm. No breakfast or tea served (they get a biscuit and a drink at after school care).

The local schools tried to get breakfast etc clubs going but there wasn't the demand (lots of SAHMs). I know at one point that the after school club attracted four pupils out of a total of 500 over three schools.

2shoeprintsintheblood · 15/10/2010 10:53

Litchick good post

foreverastudent · 15/10/2010 11:03

Our breakfast club runs from 8.20 and used to be free but now costs 50p. They get basic cereal and toast. Out of a school of 300+ only about 20 go.

After school is £7.50pd and runs until 5.45pm. They get a snack anf lots of outdoor activities. During the holidays it's £16 and they go on trips. About 100 Dcs use it.

I think it's important to keep these things going at low/no cost. For working parents the alternative is a childminder, which will mean less socialising and less outdoor play for the DCs. For non-working parents it will mean DCs spending even more of their day stuck indoors.

MollieO · 15/10/2010 11:13

Why would dcs of non-working parents be stuck indoors? Confused

StewieGriffinsMom · 15/10/2010 11:36

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

2shoeprintsintheblood · 15/10/2010 11:42

StewieGriffinsMom i think Litchick's post says it all really.
I do wonder if children are not being fed at home(as stated on some posts) and I don't just mean the odd skipped meal, why ain't ss involved as it is neglect

tokyonambu · 15/10/2010 11:43

" For non-working parents it will mean DCs spending even more of their day stuck indoors."

Huh? Why can't non-working parents go outside?

strawberrycake · 15/10/2010 12:09

I started up and run our school's after school club, as I coordinate extended services. Ours is massively popular yet the amount we charge isn't covering staff/ admin (lots of extra)/ the bare minimum of resources etc. It's left this year already a big hole in our budget. We used to get a generous amount to fund all our extended schools needs, this budget paid for things like resourcing clubs, running free clubs, subsidising trips, school nurses, booster clubs in the holidays and summer schools to name a few. It even covered things like translation services. Next year we are set to get £0, on top of that our budget for the school in general is down. I don't know where we'll be next year frankly.

Strix · 15/10/2010 12:20

I agree with 2shoes that parents who do not feed young children at all are guilty of neglect, and ss/nhs should be involved.

Where does the money for these clubs come from now? If it is the education budget, I do wonder if this makes sense. Children should have nutritional food to eat. But, I'm not sure I think it should come from the education budget.

I (obviously) think that good nutrition is very important. It should be part of the education. And feeding children crap at school does not support that education.

If you are telling kids one thing and showing them another, which messae are they supposed to remember? Do as I say and not as I do is not a very convincing argument.

foreverastudent · 15/10/2010 12:21

tokyo- Here, everyone lives in flats, with no gardens and shitty bracing weather. Dcs dont go outside.

Strix · 15/10/2010 12:27

Incidentally, nutritious food need not be expensive. And some of things which are banned from schools on nutritional grounds really baffle me... like raisins and cheese. Yet others which pass the nutritional guidelines are not my idea of healthy, like pudding fortified with artificial sweetners.

My DD came home from school one day explaing to me that sugar free Ribena is healthy, to which I replied "I think you are mistaken."

How can a child go through school dehydrated? Surely they can have free water. And the same must be true at home.

littleducks · 15/10/2010 12:37

DD goes to breakfast club one or two days a week, i must admit i am less than impressed with the 'breakfast' but i feed her as normal at home, and see her having a toasted pancake and a glass of milkshake as an additional treat rather than a 'meal'.
It costs £2 for 50min (although dd is only there 30 min)

I got the same blurb sent home about a healthy range of cereal etc offered. I was imagining weetabix, cornflakes etc. It was actually own brand coco pops etc. The milkshakes are own brand 'nesquik' powder in milk, which i really dislike but I wont complain as 30min-1hr a week it really helps me.

MollieO · 15/10/2010 12:37

foreverastudent I did wonder!

Bumblelion · 15/10/2010 12:48

My youngest DD goes to breakfast club 4 days a week on the days that I work. This enables me to get to work on time and know that she is cared for before school. Her favourite breakfast is plain porridge (with just milk) but the school doesn't provide that so she normally has a bowl before we leave home.

I use the breakfast club, not to provide her with food, but so I can go to work. It costs £4 a day and, not only do they provide breakfast (cereal, toast, yoghurts, milk, water, etc.) but they also do activities and 'quiet' time before school. Yesterday she bought home a halloween ghost made out of a handkerchief and a coat hanger.

In the summer they have outdoor play before school and in the colder days always have some activity.

I would be lost without her breakfast club. It is held in the infants school attached to her junior school although they are in different buildings in different roads.

Poogles · 15/10/2010 12:55

Didn't realise that there were subsidised clubs. Our one is privately run 5 mins from the school (cots £15/day for bothe before and after school).

Breakfast is a selection of cereals, toast, crumpets etc. DS tends to have some breakfast at home and some there (i.e. weetabix at one, toast at the other). He will sometimes have white, sometimes brown. He won't eat Frosties, Cocoa Pops etc because 1. he doesn't like them, 2. they don't offer them. They also offer fruit and tend to give the DC some to take in for mid-morning snack (helps me out when I forget!!).

With regards to the free breakfast for those who get free lunch, I don't really follow the argument. Who feeds these DC during school holidays? Do they starve every weekend???? Don't have an issue with free breakfasts by the way...

Poogles · 15/10/2010 12:58

Meant to add - the only thing they don't offer at breakfast club that DS has at home is yoghurt!! So no nutrition gained or lost as far as I am concerned!

StewieGriffinsMom · 15/10/2010 13:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Strix · 15/10/2010 14:22

Stewie, how many is "an awful lot"? It is obviously not right for a child to not be fed. But, is it the schools job to take over parenting when it fails or is the schools job to provide children with an education?

Janos · 15/10/2010 14:56

Hand wringing about what is/isn't nutritious food aside...if parents/carers are failing to do their job (for want of a better word) adequately then that is precisely when other agencies SHOULD be stepping in, surely?