Free meal scheme expands to third school

Teaching assistant Claire Stenson says students are more ready to learn after attending the breakfast club

A council-run free school meals trial, which is funded by donations, has been expanded with the launch of a breakfast club.

The York City Council Hungry Minds programme was rolled out at Fishergate Primary school last week.

Head teacher Tina Clarke said the school had previously offered cereals to students who came to school hungry but it came from funds which could have been used elsewhere in school.

The Labour-run council said it hoped to extend the scheme to other schools in the city if the funding allowed.

Ms Clarke told BBC Radio York: "I'm really grateful that our school was chosen because I know the levels of need some of our families have.

"It's something that as a school, with funding as it is at the moment, we wouldn't have been able to offer."

Ms Clarke said in addition to getting breakfast, students were also given a chance to socialise before lessons.

Teaching assistant Claire Stenson, who runs the scheme, said: "We've had good feedback from some of the teachers that these children have been a lot more settled first thing in the morning."

She added: "They're a lot more able to learn."

Head Teacher Tina Clarke says the breakfast club is supporting families in need

Councillor Bob Webb, executive member for children, young people and education, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he hoped to extend the scheme further this year, but the existing funding model needed to expand to support those plans.

"It's a soft start between home and school that offers children a little bit of social time and if a child's had a tough time at home it gives them a space to talk about that too," Webb added.

He said the scheme, which has already been rolled out in Clifton's Burton Green Primary School and Acomb's Westfield Primary Community School, was funded through a partnership between the council and local philanthropists.

Westfield began offering free lunches to pupils in years three to six from January 2024, with the scheme later extended to a breakfast club offer in Burton Green.

The current ruling Labour administration pledged to provide every primary pupil with a free school meal when it came to power in 2023.

It comes alongside a government-run national free breakfast clubs early adopter scheme which is funding trials in 750 schools including York's St Paul's Church of England Primary School from April.

Webb said: "If that gets fully rolled out we could look at using our resources to top it up."

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