Up to 750 early adopter settings will be funded to provide the clubs from April 2025, ahead of a universal rollout also aimed at lessening families' childcare costs.
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Analysis: Breaking barriers in support of more inclusive early education
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Analysis: New government puts children’s wellbeing at heart of its agenda
Participating schools will be expected to deliver a free breakfast and “at least 30 minutes of free before school childcare, every day”.
The move comes as thinktank the Education Policy Institute calls on government to prioritise tackling food poverty in the early years, as well as considering automatic enrolment for free school meals.
New research by EPI published today (28 Nov) by EPI finds that children under five are 25% more likely to experience food poverty than older children, with nearly a quarter of households with children under four years experiencing food poverty in January 2024.
The breakfast club application process closes on 20 December and successful schools will be contacted in January 2025.
In its autumn budget the government tripled investment in breakfast clubs to £33m for 2025/2026 to support early adopter schools as well as continue the National School Breakfast Programme, run by the charity Family Action.
“This is a landmark opportunity for schools to be in the vanguard of change, as we build back the foundations of an education system that breaks the link between children’s background, and the opportunities they have in life,” said education secretary Bridget Phillipson.
“From helping with flexible working for families, to improving behaviour and attendance, the supportive start to the day that breakfast clubs provide will help drive high and rising standards for every child.”
Family Action’s chief executive David Holmes said the charity is “delighted to see this further investment by the government in breakfast clubs”, adding: “We know from our long experience of delivering breakfast provision ourselves the difference that a nutritious breakfast offered in a supportive and enriching environment can make to children’s readiness to learn."
He said that the charity “will do all we can to share our experience with early adopter schools,” to help them set up clubs, as well as help support further roll out nationally.
Among sites already running a breakfast club is Willow Bank Primary School in London.
Its headteacher Abigail Oldfield said: “Our breakfast club has made a massive difference to supporting children and families from the very start of the school day.
“We’ve seen a big impact on attendance and punctuality of children, as many of our most vulnerable families now have breakfast every day with us.
“By offering a healthy breakfast and childcare, it ensures children are in school on time and have energy to learn.”
While welcoming the government’s focus on breakfast clubs, Purnima Tanuku, the chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, has urged ministers to include a wider pool of early years providers in the scheme.
“We must remember that private, voluntary and independent nurseries already run wraparound childcare services like breakfast and after school clubs, including some which are based in schools or which support children from nearby schools,” she said, adding: “They should be fully engaged in this scheme as providers with years of experience in delivery. We don’t want to see public money used in a way that damages or duplicates existing high-quality provision.”
Tanuku warns that “if part of a nursery’s business model becomes unsustainable, that may threaten their ability to deliver other childcare and early education services".
According to surplus food distribution charity FareShare a record number of teachers are taking food into school for hungry pupils. The proportion doing this increased from 26% to 28% between 2023 and this year.
