There are increasing calls for an expansion of school breakfast clubs, where children get a nutritious meal before class, to all Deis schools to tackle increasing child poverty and school absenteeism.
Almost one-third of Deis (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) primary schools are not guaranteed breakfast club funding while those that are say funding is inadequate, providing only for a cold snack.
“Having an adequate breakfast is a really, really important issue for children, especially where, for increasing numbers, the cost of living is increasing enforced deprivation,” says Tanya Ward, chief executive of the Children’s Rights Alliance.
“Children find it hard to settle, to focus, to concentrate when they are hungry.
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“Children can feel unloved when they are not fed, leading to low self-esteem. It’s bad for their physical health but also their mental health. They can be irritable and it’s harder for them to sustain friendships. If the food they are getting is attractive, if it is good, it actually increases school attendance. Without a doubt, good quality breakfasts must be a feature in Deis schools.”
The Department of Social Protection, which funds school meals, provides 75 cent per child for breakfast in qualifying schools, to consist of “one serving of wholemeal or wholegrain cereal or bread, plus one serving of fruit, or, one serving of milk, yoghurt or cheese” says its guidelines.
Introduced by the Department of Education in 2005, the Deis programme benefits qualifying schools with lower pupil-teacher ratios, homeschool liaison teachers, additional grants and access to the school completion programme.
A total of 1,089 primary schools and 255 post-primary schools are in the scheme. Of these, however, 284 primary and 38 post-primary were admitted only in 2022.
A department spokeswoman said: “All pre 2022 Deis primary schools have access to the breakfast [funding]. Schools awarded Deis status after 2022 may not have the breakfast club.”
St Francis senior national school in Priorswood, north Dublin, was designated Deis band one in 2005, meaning its children face the highest levels of disadvantage. While it has always been entitled to the department’s breakfast funding, principal Dee Kiely knew many pupils would benefit “hugely” from a better breakfast.
Last year she applied to breakfast cereal manufacturer Kellog’s Ireland, which now funds 45 school breakfast clubs across the country, and was awarded €3,000. Ms Kiely bought equipment, including catering-size toasters, cutlery and tableware. The fund provides toast for all 198 pupils at their desks each morning and also a targeted breakfast club for up to 14 pupils at a time, per morning.
On a visit in December, The Irish Times met children enjoying cereals, toast, fruit and scrambled eggs. Overseen by teacher Jane Flanagan, the room is painted in calming pastel colours, with couches, beanbags, fairy lights, lava lamps and gentle music providing a calming background.
“If it wasn’t here and you’d had no breakfast you’d be on the yard hungry,” says Scott (10). “It fills your belly until around lunchtime.”
Mason (12), who had toast and orange, says: “It’s good because you can sit and talk to your friends. And then you can concentrate in the class.”
Amelia (9) says the club is “good”. On her way to school on the bus, she was “thinking about breakfast and my friends”.
Since securing the Kellog’s funding Ms Kiely has seen “improved attendance, improved punctuality” across the school. “It has worked wonders.”
Adequate breakfast clubs are “crucial” she says, noting recent Department of Education data showing school attendance among pupils has dropped significantly since the pandemic, most dramatically in areas of high disadvantage.
Stephen Moffatt, national policy manager with children’s charity Barnardos, agrees well-resourced school breakfast clubs in the poorest areas are “really, really valuable”. Barnardos provides 10 across the county, including in schools.
“They provide nourishment and care in a comforting, warm environment at the start of a child’s day,” he said. “[They are] sitting with their peers. That helps in terms of regulation. It takes a bit of pressure from parents. They are really, really positive and we definitely believe they should be in all Deis schools.”
The Department of Social Protection said it funded 899 organisations for breakfast clubs in the last school year.
The current priority for additional funding is to ensure every primary schoolchild receives a meal a day under the hot school meals scheme which will be extended to all primary schools in 2025, meaning 3,200 schools and 550,000 children will benefit. “Any additional measures to expand the coverage of other meal options would have to be considered in a budgetary context,” the department said.
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