Free school meals pilot in York reaches pivotal milestone

Two schools, part of the trial, have been taking part in an 'ambitious' scheme by the council for six months

Author: Oliver MorganPublished 14th Jul 2024
Last updated 14th Jul 2024

A key milestone has been reached for two schools in York - who are running free school meal pilot projects.

They’ve been working with the council as part of their commitment to work towards York becoming an anti-poverty city.

The scheme has now been running for 6 months - and the results of its impact are expected to be published later in the year.

One of those involved are Westfield Primary Community School - where pupils in Key Stage 2 started receiving free school lunches at the start of the year, thanks to funding from City of York Council.

All pupils at Burton Green Primary School have been able to receive a free breakfast each morning since February, thanks to donations to the York Community Fund’s York Hungry Minds Appeal.

According to the local authority, this work is being done because of evidence, which suggests Universal Free School Meals both support children’s ability to learn and reduce health inequalities between disadvantaged children and their peers.

The difference is already starting to be felt - with the Head teacher at Burton Green Primary School, Ash McGann, highlighting the difference the healthy, free breakfasts are already making at the school, helping children to transition calmly from home to school and having a positive impact on attendance.

The statistics

According to the council, it's pizza that's become the children's favourite lunch at Westfield.

There, 1,323 of the pizzas have been made for the lunchtime pilot since January, whilst pupils have eaten over 1,100 apples and over 49 stones of freshly made bread have been produced.

Children at Burton Green Primary have tucked into more than 600 pancakes, 275 bananas and drunk 540 glasses of apple juice as part of their healthy breakfasts.

'I'm so proud of what we've been able to achieve'

Cllr Claire Douglas, Leader of City of York Council, said: "It’s fantastic to reach the 6-month milestone and I’m so proud of what we’ve been able to achieve in York by working in partnership.

“Supporting our residents during the cost of living crisis and tackling disadvantage are priorities for our administration and exploring the benefits of free school meals through these pilot projects is a key part of that commitment."

Cllr Bob Webb, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Education, said: "All the evidence suggests that providing children with healthy, nourishing food can make a significant difference to school attendance, concentration and their physical and mental wellbeing.

"While we recognise that there is more to do to roll this out to all our schools, the six month anniversary of the pilots is an important milestone. Thank you to all our partners across the city who’ve made this possible.”

The impact of the pilots will be evaluated by researchers from the Universities of Leeds and York, with results expected later this year.

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