In a letter to Jeremy Hunt, coordinated by charity Magic Breakfast, 150 headteachers and school leaders have asked for “up to £18m over the next 18 months” to fund another 2,500 schools across England to deliver the National School Breakfast Programme (NSBP).
-
Related news: Sector cautiously welcomes Labour pledge to provide free breakfast clubs
-
Inspections clinic: Monitoring school attendance
They warn that the NSBP, which is funded by the government until 2024, currently “only reaches a quarter” of the 10,000 schools across England that experience high levels of disadvantage.
The “urgent request” comes as teachers express the “difficulties” they face teaching hungry pupils who become “unsettled and disruptive”, impacting the whole class.
The letter - sent in the run up to the spring Budget, due on 15 March - states: “All of us have seen the impact that morning hunger can have in the classroom – and it is steadily getting worse. The Food Foundation reported that four million children lived in food insecure households in September 2022; a sharp increase from the 2.6 million reported just six months earlier. Behind this figure are thousands of children who are missing out on breakfast every school day.
“Tackling morning hunger is a crucial step in addressing the cost-of-living crisis, but a sustainably funded breakfast provision would have profound, positive long-term impact.”
Magic Breakfast co-delivered the NSBP with Family Action between 2019 to 2021. The programme, funded by the Department for Education, is now being delivered by Family Action until July 2024.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Our National School Breakfast Programme is a lifeline to families, providing free, nutritious breakfasts to hundreds of thousands of children across England. We know this supports attainment, wellbeing and readiness to learn, which is why we’re investing up to £30 million in the programme, to help up to 2,500 schools in the most disadvantaged areas.
“This is alongside supporting more young people than ever before by providing over a third of pupils in England with free schools meals in education settings.”
