Gateacre secure funding to provide free healthy breakfasts for all students

Gateacre School won a bid for funding provided by the government’s National Breakfast School Programme (NBSP).

The programme is funded by the Department for Education through the soft drinks levy (sugar tax) and is delivered by the charities Family Action and Magic Breakfast, offering a healthy breakfast at school to ensure students are settled and ready to learn.

The school is one of the first in Liverpool to offer the free breakfast which is being launched this month.

From 14 January, students will be able to choose from a range of breakfast cereals, bagels and porridge – and they can eat as much as they want!

On the third Thursday of each month they will also open this offer up to parents/carers and siblings of Gateacre students so they can all have a great start to the day (without the panic of making breakfast for everyone, and the washing up!). The first #fillmeupThursday will be on 17 January.

Research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies found that Year 2 pupils in schools boosted their reading, writing and maths by an average of two months’ progress per year, compared to pupils in schools with no breakfast provision.

Gateacre School hopes that the programme helps with attendance and punctuality, as the students are dropped off earlier and are already at school when the bell rings.

Headteacher, Jason Roberts said: “At Gateacre we recognise the importance of a great start in the morning especially when our Year 11 and Year 13 pupils are preparing for their examinations. That is why we open the school during the exam period early to ensure that every pupil has the opportunity to have a free breakfast and prepare well for their tests.”

Head of resources at Gateacre School, Anne Kavanagh, who applied for the funding, told us that before the breakfast club, many children had been coming to school hungry. Anne said: “We understand that those students who start the school day with a healthy breakfast have higher levels of attendance, punctuality and concentration, which results in improved learning.

“We are committed to ensuring that no student at Gateacre School is too hungry to learn and so we have adopted the National School Breakfast Programme.”