Plea to extend universal free school meals to older pupils
A HEADTEACHER has called on the Welsh Government to extend universal free school meals to secondary children if it is serious about tackling low attendance and behaviour.
St Martin’s School in Caerphilly, started running a free breakfast club with donations from staff, local businesses and supermarkets last term, because some children were coming in hungry, late, or not at all.
Headteacher Lee Jarvis said when he started looking into attendance it became clear some children didn’t have breakfast at home.
Some didn’t get time to eat before leaving home and some hadn’t eaten since the day before, so running a free breakfast club for all removed any possible stigma for the reasons why.
“For some coming to the free breakfast club they won’t have eaten properly since school lunch the day before,” Mr Jarvis said, “Others might not have time for, or be given breakfast at home.”
Universal free school meals are offered to all primary aged children in Wales, but the offer depends where they live.
Since offering universal free school meals to all primary-age children in
Wales under its deal with Plaid the Welsh Government has said it does not have enough money to extend that offer to older children.
Asked about free breakfast clubs for secondaries, if not lunches, a spokesperson said the budget did not run to that either.
Initially, Mr Jarvis asked all staff to donate a loaf of bread to make children toast before the morning bell. That proved so successful helping with attendance and punctuality the school started asking for donations to run a proper free breakfast club.
Local businesses – including Arch Drainage, run by former pupil David Lewis – donate money while staff also go out to supermarkets including Iceland and Asda to collect donations.
A storage area has been transformed into a mini dining area with counters made from recycled builder’s pallets and tables and chairs donated by Cardiff University and the University of South Wales.
With just over 1,046 pupils at the school, numbers coming in for free breakfast before lessons has risen from a handful initially to around 100 every day.
Several members of staff come in up to 90 minutes early to open and serve free toast, fruit and squash from 7am to 8.30am.
Mr Jarvis said children felt let down coming to secondary from primary,
We asked children why they weren’t coming in and some were saying they found it hard getting out of bed because they were hungry
where they get free breakfast and lunch: “You don’t suddenly stop being hungry at the age of 11 and we have children from all years coming into the breakfast club.
“When there was a drop in attendance post-pandemic and when we looked into why we found one reason was some children had not eaten breakfast. We asked children why they weren’t coming in and some were saying they found it hard getting out of bed because they were hungry.
“I do think universal free school meals should be given to secondary pupils. For someone in year seven they come to secondary school where six weeks earlier they got free food, now they don’t.
“I think the Welsh Government should at least fund free breakfast for all secondary children if not universal free school lunches. Children come from primary where they are nurtured with breakfast and lunch and suddenly don’t have that and it does affect attendance.
“Punctuality in the morning has improved since we started the free breakfast club as well as attendance. Free breakfast clubs in secondaries would be one of my recommendations for improving attendance.”
Mr Jarvis estimated it costs £70 a week to offer free breakfast at St Martin’s, serving an average 100 pupils a day, with all that coming from donations. That was a small price to pay for the positive effects.
School cleaner Annie Schofield comes in at 6am to clean and then volunteers at the breakfast club unpaid. She said during more than 30 years working at the school she had never seen so many children saying they are hungry, with many families now just outside eligibility for free school lunches.
The schools DT technician Jeff Brockman, who runs the breakfast club and makes hundreds of pieces a toast every morning, sees some pupils arrive the moment he opens the door at 7am.
Meeting for free food and a chat is a positive way for children to start the day and makes them feel cared for, he believes.
“We think it’s made a great difference. It’s a safe, warm place and some have not had breakfast at home.”
As Jeff dished out slice after slice of toast, queues formed and pupils were happy to say how much the breakfast club has helped them want to come into school. They are also allowed to take free pieces of fruit away with them for breaktime.
Year 10 pupils Hugo Nott, 15,and Ewan Morgan, 14, said the lure of breakfast helped them come in to school on time in what is an important GCSE year. Both admitted they had skipped breakfast before and now come to the club every morning.
“If I was running late I wouldn’t have breakfast at home,” said Hugo, “I come here every morning at ten past eight before registration. It’s good for people who don’t have time to get to school on time and eat breakfast.”
Year seven pupils Chloe Jones, 12 and Isabella Owen, 11, like to meet over toast to start their day. They said the arrangement helps them look forward to school.
“I come in hungry and like hanging out with friends before school starts, “said Chloe, “It’s a nice way to start the say and I have toast and jam which is really nice.”
Isabella admitted she was too rushed to eat at home: “I come in to have breakfast at school every day because I don’t have time at home. I am less hungry in the day now.”
It’s the first time at the breakfast club for their classmate Marcus Packham. He said he was hungry and being offered toast made him feel “more enthusiastic” about coming to school.
Another group of year seven boys agreed. Laurence Wu, 11, Dylan Ward, 12 and Jaden Hosey, 11 and Dewi Thomas. 11, come in every day because they don’t manage to get breakfast at home.
“It’s really good because I don’t have time at home to eat breakfast,” said Dylan, “Before the club opened I was hungry in the morning at school.”
Dewi said he was also hungry in lessons but now comes in every day for breakfast with friends and a chat.
Jaden and Laurence agreed starting the day with friends and food made it “easier to come in to school”.
As they headed to morning lessons, a crowd of hungry pupils was still coming through the door.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We are proud to be the only country in the UK that has a breakfast scheme that all primary schools can be part of. Last year 51,600 pupils benefited from this support, a rise of 7,000 since 2022.
“The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement unleased a fresh round of austerity. This means that for the second year in a row, Wales’s funding settlement is not sufficient to respond to the extraordinary pressures we face.
“Due to budget pressures, we are not currently considering rolling out our universal breakfasts for secondary schools.”