'Free breakfast clubs needed for all North East schools'
A Stanley head teacher wants all schools to provide free breakfasts for pupils
It's as new research shows more than two in five teachers in our region bring food into school for kids and almost half say they see children coming to school hungry every.
Around half say they come in hungry every day.
The situation hits children in more than just their stomachs, with two-thirds of teachers claiming hunger is leading to pupils being unable to learn.
Of those teachers who saw an increase in children arriving at school hungry, three in four believe families’ financial struggles are a major factor, while half say last year’s benefit cuts are behind the rise.
Greenland Community Primary School set up a breakfast club five years ago, 90 children have access to it now.
One teacher, Mrs Walker, set it up out of her own pocket. She’s been recognised recently hero of the year by Kellogg’s.
Headteacher, Mark Stewart, thinks it’s something all schools should be able to do. He said:
“If we could ensure that all of the children had a breakfast or a settled start to the day I think that would be a great idea. I think if there was funding available to support schools doing that so they didn’t have to pass the cost onto the parents then that can only benefit the communities. Most importantly, the education of the children would improve.”
“Mrs Walker started the breakfast club around about five years ago. She financed it completely by herself out of her own pocket initially. So I can fully understand that there are an awful lot of teachers out there who will go the extra mile just to ensure in every aspect of the children’s education that they get the best opportunities.”