Tens of thousands of working parents will, from Tuesday, be supported with more flexibility and choice from the rollout of free breakfast clubs across England, as the government delivers on its promise of 30 minutes of free childcare every day.
As children return from the Easter holidays, the first 750 schools across the country are set to begin offering free breakfast clubs.
This will help parents get up to 95 hours back a year – giving them more support at a crucial time in the morning as they balance busy lives of work and childcare.
New government data shows that over half of parents would use this time to juggle parenting with working, training or studying.
The free breakfast clubs will save parents up to £450 a year and come alongside a raft of measures from government to provide parents with greater choice and help with the cost of living, such as a cap on school uniform costs and expanding free childcare for under-fives to 30 hours per week.
It comes as major employers like British Airways, Accenture and Rigby Group back the clubs to support parents to work more flexibly.
The rollout delivers on the government’s manifesto promise to ensure state schools offer free breakfast clubs to all pupils, while supporting its Plan for Change milestone to ensure tens of thousands more children start school ready to learn.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said:
“Free breakfast clubs are at the heart of our Plan for Change, making working parents’ lives easier and more affordable, while breaking down barriers to opportunity for every child.
“From Tyneside to Truro, England is one of the first countries in Europe to open universal free breakfast clubs, saving parents up to £450 per year and making sure every child starts school ready to learn.
“This government is delivering on our promises to working parents, rolling out free breakfast clubs, school-based nurseries, and giving every child across the country the best start in life.”
Across the country, school leaders have seen breakfast clubs drive improvements in attendance, attainment and behaviour.
This government is going further and faster, using the 750 free breakfast clubs as a key tool to tackle barriers to learning in schools, with 500,000 primary school pupils missing at least one day of school every fortnight last year, 1 in every 3 pupils not ready to start school at age 5 and 1 in every 50 pupils suspended at least once.
Sean Doyle, Chairman and Chief Executive, British Airways said:
“We welcome the Government’s new free Breakfast Club initiative and any effort to support children’s health and learning, while providing more flexibility for working parents and reducing their childcare costs.”
Shaheen Sayed, Head of Accenture in the UK, Ireland and Africa, said:
“As a major employer in the UK flexibility is a priority, and we understand the importance of creating an environment where everyone can achieve a healthy work-life balance.
“We welcome the government’s roll out of 750 new free breakfast clubs across the country as a targeted investment in the future of the workforce and a major step to reducing pressures on working families.
“Breakfast clubs not only improve educational outcomes for children but also enable greater workforce participation, allowing working parents and carers to achieve their professional and personal aspirations.”
Steve Rigby Co-CEO, Rigby Group said:
“As the West Midlands’ largest philanthropic family working with disadvantaged children, we wholeheartedly support the government’s rollout of breakfast clubs.
“Breakfast clubs provide support to parents, improve attendance and provide an important start to young people in the start of their school day.”
St Benedict’s Primary School, which currently offers breakfast club provision, is going to be one of the early adopter schools to expand the benefits of the club.
Emma Nott, Head Teacher at St Benedict’s Primary School said:
“For us, the funding will help us to offer breakfast clubs for free – which is crucial to encourage take up and for more children to reap the benefits.
“Our fantastic staff truly believe in this policy, and we are already seeing children’s attendance increase as a result of the club.
“It also gives pupils time to adjust between home and school life, especially on a Monday morning, prioritising this for 30 minutes makes a whole world of difference.”
Too many children’s life chances have been scarred by poverty, with a third of children leaving primary school without fundamental reading, writing and maths skills, this increases to over half for disadvantaged pupils.
This government has set out a clear commitment to break down barriers to opportunity for every child, with breakfast clubs proven to boost children’s reading, writing and maths by an average of two months.
Craig Jones, Director of the Junior Adventures Group and the PVI Network:
“We can see the positive impact enriching breakfast clubs can have on children and families lives, providing a positive, active start to the day and supporting families with work-life balance.
“As PVI providers we are excited about the launch of the early adopter scheme and are fully supportive of providing valuable feedback and innovative delivery models during this ‘test & learn’ phase of the free breakfast club offer.”
Free breakfast clubs in the early adopter schools will shape the future of the national breakfast club policy, contributing directly to its implementation. Further details on the national roll out of the breakfast clubs programme will follow in due course.
