"We run a free breakfast club for all our young people. It is offered to all. We have 50 places and can fund more if we need to. The funding for the food is provided by Greggs."
"The club is not just for working parents. The club runs from 8am to 9am. Even if children do not want to eat breakfast, then we are happy that parents can use the club if they need somewhere for their child to go because we recognise the difficulties that parents face, such as single parents. Snacks are provided to each class as well as class breakfasts.”
“Funding and supplies have come from ASDA and have also come from Kellogg’s grants for the school and some funding has been allocated from PEF."
"ASDA provide a combination of grants and food items. Food offered tends to include cereal bars, biscuits and drinks. Our support staff run the breakfast offer and replenish food stocks.”
At Mill of Mains Primary, breakfast is toast in class, supported by Pupil Equity Funding. A plate of toast is delivered to all classrooms for children to help themselves and children can also collect toast from the school canteen. The provision of toast allows for the children to eat and learn at the same time and means that children arriving late can still benefit.
A survey by the school showed that about 30% of children had not eaten breakfast before attending so the key aim of this approach is to make sure that children are full and ready to learn. The school also uses PEF to ensure that all children have a snack at break-time. These can be collected from staff in the playground.
Beith Primary offers two breakfast clubs for children, says Headteacher Fiona Dunlop:
“We have a nurture breakfast club as well as a breakfast club. So we have an out of school system which is a paid system but subsidised by the local authority. However, we also have our own nurture breakfast group where we invite families”
The school also makes sure that there is food available more widely for children
“Because they can’t start a day’s work and be focused on the work if they’re hungry. So we always have water, cereal, juice or toast available for them.”
The school is continually thinking about their offering, and whether it needs to be tweaked.
“We’ve toyed with the idea of grab and go but that really defeats the purpose of the intervention, the purpose is actually to settle and focus in the morning before they start work”.
What difference has this made to the children who come along to breakfast club?
All the staff report that the children attending breakfast clubs are going into class more ready to physically learn, actually ready to sit down or play and to get on with the job. And that’s having a direct impact on the children and their progress.”
Margaret Johnstone, the Support Services Coordinator at Balwearie High School, feels that making sure that everyone has eaten is a key part of the school's responsibility for its young people.
“We started breakfast clubs straight away and they’ve grown. We’ve now included a breaktime club and encouraged any young person to go to the breakfast club, it’s not just for those able to claim free school meals."
Making sure everyone has eaten is a priority for Margaret and her team and they've tackled this in various ways. Breakfast clubs, funded in part with help from local businesses and with a proportion of the school’s PEF allocation, break-time clubs, free fruit Fridays, breakfast bars available throughout the day and cash available for young people who don’t have money for lunch.
“All the pupils know now that they don’t go hungry at lunchtime. If they’ve spent the two pounds forty they come to my office or they come to guidance and we’ve got petty cash and they get money. We are the corporate parent from 8:30 in the morning until four o’clock in the afternoon, 39 weeks a year. So we are legally responsible for the health and wellbeing of that young person, so we have to be able to be involved in all of their health and wellbeing.”
Members of the Cost of the School Day Voice network took their call for universal free school meals to the Scottish Parliament.
