School among first in free breakfast club roll out

"After a piece of toast or a bagel, it really enables them to access the learning and start to socialise; it's like a lightbulb," says a headteacher about a new breakfast club.

Claire Hall at Goodyers End Primary School in Bedworth, Warwickshire, said it had been a "very good idea" to apply for a new government scheme that would provide free daily breakfast clubs for pupils who often arrived without having eaten that morning.

The scheme, which launches in April, would provide 750 schools with free meals to start the day.

"This is an opportunity for children to have a really comforting, warm start to the day but also to have that nutritious breakfast that sets them up," Ms Hall said.

The headteacher added that the school already provided "quite a few small breakfasts" to support children through the morning.

Breakfast is very important for children, as they "only get one chance at their education", she said.

"Anything we can do to improve their outcomes we will try to."

Ms Hall said about 80 families had already expressed an interest in the scheme, and she expected interest to grow once the scheme was underway.

Goodyers End is one of six schools in Coventry and Warwickshire to benefit from the pilot scheme ahead of a planned England-wide rollout.

Dr Jacqueline Harding, who is a child development expert, said the free clubs were "absolutely essential".

"Nutrition plays an important part in brain development; we want those young brains to be powered up before they start the school day.

"If they can't concentrate, then they could misunderstand, and then it appears that they're misbehaving, and it's just not a good road to start on.

"We need their basic needs to be covered before we start the school day," Dr Harding added.

Mrs Hall said the breakfast would be a healthy and balanced meal that would "hopefully appeal to everybody".

"The great thing is that children will possibly try new things at school that they wouldn't at home because their friends are eating it, so sociable eating encourages them to try new things too."

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