A healthy breakfast is proven to boost children’s energy levels, problem-solving skills, and attention spans. Thanks to the introduction of free breakfast clubs in England’s most disadvantaged communities, thousands of children no longer start school hungry—and many more will tuck into a free breakfast from April.
Currently, more than 180,000 pupils in the country’s most disadvantaged communities enjoy free breakfast clubs. But when children return from their Easter holidays, more than 300,000 across 1,250 schools will kickstart their morning with a “healthy, nutritious and varied” breakfast, alongside activities like reading and crafts.
What is the free breakfast club?
Introduced last April, these 30-minute sessions before school provide a free breakfast that follows the School Food Standards to all primary school-level children across England. From Easter, over 500 new clubs will launch, but building on that, an additional 2000 schools will be added before March 2027.
This is part of a national rollout, which will eventually see free breakfast clubs in every primary school in England. Breakfast clubs have already been shown to boost children’s reading, writing, and maths by an average of 2 months, and could also save families up to £450 a year on childcare and food bills.
Which local primary schools are part of the free breakfast club scheme?
In the West of England, the new schools joining the programme from April are:
- Bath & North East Somerset: Twerton Infant School, St Martin’s Garden Primary School, North Star 180
- Bristol: E-ACT the Kingfisher School, St Nicholas of Tolentine Catholic Primary School, Oasis Academy Connaught, Badock’s Wood E-ACT Academy, Greenfield E-ACT Primary Academy, Hannah More Primary School, Four Acres Academy
- North Somerset: Oldmixon Primary School, Windwhistle Primary School, Bournville Primary School, Westhaven School
- South Gloucestershire: Tyndale Primary
This map shows all the participating schools in the free breakfast club scheme. Schools joining the programme will contact families directly about how to sign up for the free breakfast club.
