At what time will children be expected to be at school for breakfasts?
I AM a member of the Labour Party but on this occasion I am writing as the chair of Governors at Sacred Heart Catholic Academy.
However, the views expressed are my own and I do nor purport to represent the views of other governors, members of staff or parents at the school.
The Conservative Party Policy, expressed in the recent manifesto, to replace free lunches with free breakfasts is nothing more that a money saving exercise.
What many people will not realise is that over the past three years £millions of tax payers’ money has been spent on building / refurbishing / upgrading school kitchens and recruiting and training staff so that they can supply hot nourishing lunches to the children.
The decision now to stop them demonstrates the short term thinking of Mrs May and a lack of joined-up thinking.
I am aware that the Institute for Fiscal Studies says that breakfasts do improve pupil performance. However, one has to remember that at lunchtime 100 per cent of the children are present and so can benefit from the lunch.
How many children will be present to benefit from a free breakfast which at worst will be a bowl of cereal and at best may include a piece of toast? Has anyone in the Conservative Party thought through the logistics involved in preparing and serving breakfast for up to 200 children ( though in reality the number will be far less than this)?
At what time will children be expected to arrive at school in order to benefit from the breakfast?
Who will be there to prepare and supervise the distribution of the breakfasts and clear up at the end? The teachers?
There is no educational rationale behind this decision. It is a cynical attempt to save money from the school lunch programme and, in theory, put the money saved in to school budgets to cover up for the cuts to school budgets which are currently taking place.
The Education Policy Institute estimates that overall 900000 children will lose the right to a free hot lunch.
So much for the “just managing” families who will now either be required to pay for the lunches or provide packed lunches for their children. Frank Fay Upper Green Loughborough