[Photo credit: West of England Mayoral Combined Authority / Simon Chapman.]
More B&NES schools are joining the national free school breakfast club programme.
West of England Mayor Helen Godwin has welcomed the next phase which will see 15 more schools across the West offering free breakfasts from April, bringing the total to 24.
The scheme, backed by an £80 million investment from government, is designed to help families, reduce child hunger, and ensure children start the school day ready to learn. Recent expansions mean half a million more children will benefit nationwide, with schools receiving simplified funding to provide high-quality breakfast provision.
In the West, the new schools joining the programme from April are:
· Bath & North East Somerset: Twerton Infant School, St Martin’s Garden Primary School, North Star 180
· Bristol: E-ACT the Kingfisher School, St Nicholas of Tolentine Catholic Primary School, Oasis Academy Connaught, Badock’s Wood E-ACT Academy, Greenfield E-ACT Primary Academy, Hannah More Primary School, Four Acres Academy
· North Somerset: Oldmixon Primary School, Windwhistle Primary School, Bournville Primary School, Westhaven School
· South Gloucestershire: Tyndale Primary
The West of England’s Child Poverty Action Plan, launched in December, sets out a clear strategy to tackle child poverty across the region. Free breakfast clubs are a tangible way this national effort is being delivered, alongside other measures to support children and families. These include supporting parents into work and skills development programmes; initiatives to improve affordable and accessible transport, like Kids Go Free; and improving access to affordable childcare to help parents balance work and family life.
Last week, the Mayor and council leaders approved plans for a landmark new food and essentials distribution hub as part of a new regional partnership with Bristol Charities, to help provide support to more families across the West. The all-in-one site is likely to be a multimillion-pound warehouse space in the region of 30,000 square feet to serve as a central site to store, coordinate, and redistribute urgently needed items. These surplus items include food, household products, clothing and bedding, furniture and white good, technology and school supplies – which the UK currently sends hundreds of millions of pounds of to landfill each year. The hub is the first of its kind in the country to be designed by a combined authority with local charities and councils, and plans have been developed with FareShare South West.
Helen Godwin, Mayor of the West of England, said:
“No child should start the school day hungry, and every family deserves support to thrive. Expanding free breakfast clubs across the West is practical help that saves families money, gives children the energy and focus they need, and ensures they are ready to engage, learn, and enjoy school.
“Too many children in our region grow up in poverty – over one in four – which is why we developed the West of England Child Poverty Action Plan. Our plan sets out a range of actions to lift families out of poverty and support people experiencing hardship, so that every child can get the best start in life.”
Announcing the news, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said:
“Free breakfast clubs are revolutionising morning routines up and down the country, becoming an essential part of modern-day life for working families.
“From settling a child into the school day to helping parents get to work, free breakfast clubs are giving every child the best start in life – delivering on our plan for national renewal.
“I was raised by a single parent, so I know first-hand the struggles facing parents trying to make ends meet and how important it is to tackle outdated stigmas with practical support that people can feel every day.”
Evidence from the programme’s test-and-learn phase shows that breakfast clubs can improve attendance, punctuality, focus in classes, and lead to up to two months’ additional progress in maths, reading, and writing for children aged 5–7.
The schools already taking part in the national free breakfast club programme are:
· Briarwood School, Fishponds
· Chester Park Junior School, Fishponds
· Christ Church Hanham CofE Primary School, Hanham
· Nova Primary School, Shirehampton
· Oasis Academy New Oak, Hengrove
· Peasedown St John Primary School, Peasedown St John
· Summerhill Academy, St George
· St Anne’s Church of England Primary School, Oldland Common
· St Michael’s Junior School, Twerton
The breakfast club expansion comes during the week that MPs voted resoundingly to scrap the two-child benefit cap, a change that will benefit families across the West and further support efforts to reduce child poverty, and which the Mayor and council leaders have campaigned for and welcomed. Figures from 38 Degrees show that lifting the cap would mean a cash boost of more than £23 million for families in Bath & North East Somerset (£2.89m), Bristol (£12.28m), North Somerset (£3.42m), and South Gloucestershire (£4.48m).
