It is an early start at Carr Mill Primary School in St Helen’s as the Breakfast Bistro and Bagel Bar opens up. It is 8am and pupils arrive not just for breakfast, but to actually run the club themselves.
The bistro leaders are selected from years 5 and 6. They take orders, serve breakfast, and play games with the younger children.
Carr Mill is part of the National School Breakfast Club Programme. The NSBP targets schools in disadvantaged areas with more than 40% of pupils in bands A-F of the income deprivation index. Schools receive a subsidy of 75% for the costs and contribute the remaining 25%. This subsidy is currently available until July (DfE, 2022).
However, the new government pledged in its election manifesto to “fund free breakfast clubs in every primary school, accessible to all children” and in October’s Budget allocated £30m for the roll-out of the first of these clubs in 2025/26 to “thousands” of primary schools.
Last term, the DfE invited schools to apply to be part of an “early adopter scheme” due to begin in April and which will involve funding up to 750 schools “to provide access to a free, universal breakfast club lasting at least 30 minutes that includes food” (DfE, 2024). The DfE will soon confirm which schools have been accepted and says it intends to “learn from the early adopter schools before rolling out the scheme nationally”.
While many schools already run breakfast provision, this is usually for a limited number, perhaps focusing on groups such as Pupil Premium. As such, a big challenge will be expanding clubs to cater for all pupils – including ensuring proper staffing and enough space.
A calm start to the day
Wheldon Infant School and Nursery in Castleford caters for 30 children in its breakfast club for 3 to 7-year-olds. After breakfast, pupils take part in activities such as reading books and building Lego, as well as yoga or gentle stretching. The school also offers all children “classroom bagels” at the start of the day, including those who are late and pupils in nursery.
Headteacher Helen McMullen said: “We see our breakfast pupils topping up with another bagel when they go into the classroom. It’s a social time as much as anything else and it ensures that our pupils do not go hungry.
“We can see the difference between those who have eaten properly and had time to settle and socialise before going into class. Attendance has improved but also behaviour and concentration are better too, particularly in those with low-level behavioural issues.”
It is this goal of achieving a calm start to the day, along with the advantages for working parents, that has convinced the government to make its breakfast club pledge.
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “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.”
Attendance, behaviour
At Carr Mill, it was the pandemic that kick-started its breakfast club. Deputy head for pastoral and inclusion, Katie Alexander, explained: “We offered breakfast provision before Covid but we had to make a small charge, which meant it was really only working families who took advantage.
“Post-Covid ... we aligned with the NSBP and decided to take advantage of the subsidy. It gave us the capacity to welcome more pupils, particularly those who needed it most. We maintained 30 chargeable places and were able to offer unlimited targeted places.”
Prior to involvement with NSBP, attendance had been 92% but it has now risen to 95.5% with persistent absence falling from 30.3% to 11.6%.
The involvement of older children as bistro leaders has been of particular benefit: “The idea was to bring in those pupils who were perhaps reluctant to take up the opportunity but really would benefit from breakfast. Their involvement in a working capacity has been very popular.
“We are now opening up positions to year 4 pupils who can train as apprentices. The position is sought-after. Bistro leaders come in and take orders and manage the delivery of the meals. We target children who have low self-esteem. It’s not just about healthy eating, it’s also about the mental health of our pupils. We see them beginning to flourish.”
Addressing challenges
Key challenges to delivering a universal breakfast club include ensuring sufficient staffing, finding enough space to cater for all pupils, and ensuring a nutritious breakfast can be offered without too much additional workload.
In January, the Headteacher Update Podcast focused on school food and the discussion touched upon breakfast clubs (2025). One of the guests, Dr Jason O’Rourke, headteacher at Washingborough Academy in Lincolnshire and co-founder and trustee of food education charity TastEd, warned: “With the proposed expansion of breakfast clubs a lot of headteachers in a lot of schools are thinking how are we going to manage this because of space.”
The podcast also acknowledged the challenge of providing high-quality, nutritious breakfasts on scale. Dr O’Rourke added: “It’s making sure that it’s not just the easy fixes where you’re feeding children ultra processed food because it’s just a tip of a box and a splash of milk – we’ve got to make sure that they are getting as much of a nutritious meal as possible.”
At Washingborough, they have managed to keep workload down and nutrition up via the cunning use of focaccia: “It proves overnight and the next day you put it in the oven and the children absolutely love it. It’s thinking of ways of providing a wholesome, nutritious meal but also looking at the practicalities from the staffing point of view.”
Wheldon currently has three members of staff coming in at 7:30am to support delivery – but with universal breakfast clubs will come a bigger staffing burden. Ms McMullen is already planning how their morning activities could be universal, and is working on how they can staff this.
One thing our schools have learnt is that the involvement of pupils in delivering clubs has a range of benefits, including allowing staff more time to engage in structured activities with pupils.
At Carr Mill, the pastoral team, including a learning mentor and family support worker, support delivery, toasting bagels and leading the children into the school hall, allowing them to spot potential issues early in the day.
Secrets to success
Carr Mill and Wheldon have developed models that began small and then built up. They have had time to grow – something that Ms McMullen says is crucial.
Starting small is also a useful way to reach as many pupils as quickly as possible. For example, at Carr Mill everyone has the offer of a bagel at a “grab and go” station. These are prepared using an industrial toaster. There are up to 70 children accessing the breakfast offer, with a further 100 grabbing bagels on their way in.
Commitment from staff is also a must, said Ms Alexander: “It is a whole-school approach. Everyone recognises its importance in terms of meeting the needs of our children and families.”
The evidence for the benefits of breakfast clubs is strong. However, it is not just a matter of funding, as vital as this is. Clubs that build up from small beginnings with passionate staff and which involve pupils in aspects of delivery seem more likely to succeed. The national roll-out when it happens will need to remember these key ingredients.
- Suzanne O’Connell is a freelance education writer and a former primary school headteacher. Read her previous articles via www.headteacher-update.com/authors/suzanne-oconnell
Headteacher Update Spring Term Edition 2025
- This article first appeared in Headteacher Update's Spring Term Edition 2025. This edition was sent free of charge to UK primary schools in January 2025. A free-to-download digital edition is also available via www.headteacher-update.com/content/downloads
Further information
- DfE: Guidance: National school breakfast club programme, 2022: https://buff.ly/3Bn9OzV
- DfE: Everything you need to know about free school breakfast clubs (blog), 2024: https://buff.ly/3Z88cBS
- Headteacher Update Podcast: School food, January 2025: www.headteacher-update.com/content/podcasts/headteacher-update-podcast-school-food