News from the sector
Labour government promises rollout of primary free breakfast clubs
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is looking into the future in improving school environments for children, vowing to ‘invest in our young people’ through launching a rollout of breakfast clubs across England’s primary school. Plans for an investment of £7 million for the initial phase of the plan to introduce breakfast clubs for England’s primary schools during a speech at the Labour Conference.
Reeves stated that up to 750 schools in England will be selected to take part in the first stage of the process and the government will collaborate with the DfE for the national rollout of this initiative.
Rachel Reeves: “I will judge my time in office a success if I know that at the end of it there are working-class kids from ordinary backgrounds who lead richer lives, their horizons expanded, and able to achieve and thrive in Britain today.
“Today, I can announce that that will start in hundreds of schools for primary school-aged pupils from this April ahead of the national rollout, an investment in our young people, an investment in reducing child poverty, an investment in our economy.”
The scheme is set to start in 2025 and will massively benefit students being more prepared for learning at the start of a school day.
Director of Birth to 19, Christian Bunting says:
'Birth to 19 looks forward to the implementation of free breakfasts in primary schools across the country. In Bradford we are proud to support Green Lane primary school as one of the first schools in the entire country to give free school breakfasts to all students before the government's new plan was set out. It has had great reception and will have a lasting impact on children's lives. We believe that all schools in Bradford and across the country should follow suit.
The number of children starting the day without having had breakfast is upsetting, not only is having substantial food a human right but not eating limits children’s learning capacity.
It is an important part of a school offer, one that all schools need to make.
Greggs is an amazing company that has supported many Bradford schools through supplying breakfast in the face of food poverty. Greggs’ mission to improve social mobility, starting with providing food to disadvantaged families is aligned with Birth to 19’s mission of improving outcomes for all children.'
Tesco is also a big brand supporting labour’s vision of providing children with the basic necessities to learn in school.
'Tesco Fruit & Veg for Schools, which has been developed in partnership with the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF), will provide funding for up to 140,000 pupils to receive at least one piece of fruit or veg a day giving their diets a healthy and nutritious boost.'
The funding will be used to support pupils in 400 schools with around 16 million pieces of fruit and vegetables. Over a school year, that’s the equivalent of 110 portions per child on average.
Ken Murphy, Tesco Group chief executive, said: 'Our aim is to enable schools to provide enough fruit and veg for every child to have at least one piece every day. Tesco Fruit & Veg for Schools will make a real difference by providing something that young people look forward to receiving every day, and we hope it will be another little nudge to get them eating healthy food.'
'We know we can’t change habits overnight, but we can ensure that young people in some of the most challenged communities in the UK get access to more fruit and veg. We want to help them try something new, learn about food and how to prepare and cook it.'
This project supports Labour's plans and promotes a hopeful future for both healthy and prepared children as they go to school every morning.
To read the article on free primary breakfast clubs, click here.
To find out more about Tesco's offer, click here.