Breakfast clubs

Breakfast clubs can help reduce truancy and bad behaviour at school and have a positive impact on children's health and academic performance, a new study has found. A report, Improving Breakfast Clubs - Lessons from the Best, conducted by the New Policy Institute and funded by the Kellogg's cereal company, analysed the impact of 33 UK breakfast clubs on the schools in which they were based and the children who attended. Three-quarters of the schools said breakfast clubs had a positive effect on attendance and punctuality. Eighty per cent said children concentrated better during morning lessons after attending the club because they were more settled, attentive and motivated to learn. With up to one third of children arriving at some schools without having had breakfast, improving nutrition was found to be a key benefit of many of the clubs. More than a quarter of children questioned said they did not eat breakfast on the mornings that they did not attend a club. One in three parents said childcare provision was the most important benefit of their child's breakfast club because it provided them with safe facilities when they had to leave home early in the morning.