I visited St John’s Catholic Primary School’s new Best Start free breakfast club. I thanked the staff for partnering with the Labour government to help local families with the cost of living and give local children the best start to their day.
School mornings are getting easier for families across the country as another 500 schools in disadvantaged areas opened free breakfast clubs this week, offering 30 minutes of free childcare, a healthy start for kids and a little more breathing room before the school bell rings.
West Lancashire’s parents will be supported with additional time at the start of the day to attend appointments, get to work on time and run errands. In total, this means parents will be able to save up to 95 additional hours and £450 per year.
With the cost of living at the forefront of parents’ minds in West Lancashire, these clubs will be a lifeline for working families simply trying to get by.
These clubs sit alongside Labour’s action to tackle the cost of living, with new research showing that Labour’s plan to make childcare more accessible and affordable is saving families £8,000 on average.
Best Start Holiday Clubs are also saving parents £300 outside of term time and Best Start family hubs are building on the legacy of Sure Start while providing free services such as stay and play. Labour’s new laws, set to be passed this year, will tackle the spiralling cost of uniform and save parents £50 on their back-to-school shop.
It was a pleasure to visit St John’s free breakfast club and see the impact it has on the children. They talked to me about how much they love seeing their friends before school starts.
The benefits to parents are immeasurable – more time to balance work and home life, less pressure on finances and children in West Lancashire having the best start in life.
Ms Clare Sweeney-Williams, Headteacher at St John’s Catholic Primary School, said:
“We were delighted to welcome Ashley into school to see first-hand the impact of our breakfast club provision.
“Supporting our families has always been a key priority and we have long recognised the importance of providing a calm, nurturing start to the day. It’s a pleasure to share how this provision has been embedded in our approach for some time and how wonderful it is to now receive funding that enables us to continue offering it free of charge to more families.
“Our breakfast club supports parents by providing a safe, reliable and welcoming environment at the start of the school day. It also benefits children by ensuring a settled and positive start to the day, helping them feel ready to learn and fully engage in their lessons. The additional benefits for pupils’ communication and social development are clear, as children have valuable time to talk, build friendships and interact in a relaxed setting.
“We are proud to continue prioritising the wellbeing of our children and families and are grateful for the positive difference this provision is making within our school community.
“As one parent shared in recent feedback, “Using breakfast club daily supports our lives with our working.””