Polly has launched of a new free breakfast club at Salmestone Primary School in Margate, as part of Labour’s Plan for Change in Thanet.

She was joined by the Environment Secretary, Steve Reed MP, to launch the new breakfast club, which will provide a free breakfast to all children at the school and half an hour of free childcare to parents at the beginning of the school day.

The school is one of 750 new clubs being rolled out across the country this week, as part of a pilot programme that will eventually see every primary school in the UK host a free breakfast club over the next five years as part of the government’s Plan for Change.

Salmestone already hosted a paid breakfast club at the school, but the new government funding means they can now expand their provision and offer it free to all pupils.

The clubs will save parents up to £450 per year per child and provide 95 hours of free childcare across the school year, as part of a broader package of measures to support working families. When combined with the expansion of government-funded childcare and a new cap on school uniform costs, parents of young children will save up to £8000 in total every year.

In addition to the support offered to parents, evidence suggests free breakfast clubs have a range of other benefits, including boosting school attendance and improving pupil behaviour and attainment.

Polly was also joined on the visit by Dane Valley District Councillor Jack Packman. As part of their broader focus on supporting the parents of young children in Thanet, Polly and Jack have recently been campaigning hard to save the Millmead Children’s Centre in Dane Valley from closure by Kent County Council.

Steve Reed MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said:

Free breakfast clubs are a central part of this Labour Government’s Plan for Change. We want young people to go to school with hungry minds, not hungry tummies.

 

I was delighted to visit Margate to join Polly Billington MP to see the wonderful work Salmestone Primary School is doing to ensure every child the best start in life while making sure families get the support they need.

Polly said:

It was a joy to meet with children and parents at the launch of Salmestone Primary School’s free breakfast club in Margate, where children told me how much they enjoyed the club and how helpful it was for their families. One child told me that it helped their parents to attend early meetings, while another said it helped her mum focus on her new twin baby sisters.

 

I know how much families in Thanet are struggling with the cost of childcare or even to put food on the table at the moment. This new breakfast club offers a great helping hand to parents and means every child can get a healthy start to the school day. I look forward to even more being opened in Thanet over the next few years.

 

I want to thank Salmestone Primary for hosting me and the Environment Secretary this week, and for the fantastic work they are doing to support young families in our community.

Cllr Jack Packman said:

This new free breakfast club at Salmestone Primary School is great news for local parents and pupils, because our Tory County Council is cutting support for parents and children in Margate, including by pulling funding for the vitally important Millmead Children’s Centre. Working parents in Margate have been let down for too long by the Conservatives in Westminster and a Tory council in Maidstone.