Teachers across England back Magic Breakfast’s call to protect and expand school breakfast funding to reach more children and young people with a healthy start to the day
Today, Magic Breakfast delivered an open letter to Chancellor Rachel Reeves, signed by teachers across England, calling for a cost-effective expansion to the Government’s existing free school breakfast commitment.
From early years and mainstream settings to special schools, secondary schools and alternative provision, teachers shared real-life experiences from the classroom, highlighting why breakfast provision must go beyond the government’s current plan in order to reach all pupils in special schools, alternative provision, and disadvantaged secondary schools who are at serious risk of being left behind.
The open letter comes just weeks before the government is expected to announce the outcome of its Comprehensive Spending Review, a key decision that will shape funding across public services, including education, for the next few years. For thousands of children and young people across the country, this review could determine whether they start the school day hungry or with a full tummy, ready to learn.
In February, Magic Breakfast submitted a formal recommendation to the Treasury, offering a practical plan for how the government can deliver on its breakfast commitment in a way that works for schools and creates room in the budget to support more pupils. Drawing on evidence from our partner schools across the country, our submission sets out a flexible mixed-model approach that combines breakfast clubs, grab-and-go, and classroom provision, allowing schools to use their existing space, staffing, and routines. By adopting this approach and committing the full £488.6 million set out in our Spending Review submission, starting with the £315 million already pledged, the government can, from September 2026, fulfil its manifesto pledge to provide breakfast in all primary schools, and also extend this support to every pupil in a SEND school and prevent a hunger cliff edge for the 700 most disadvantaged secondary schools currently under the National School Breakfast Programme (NSBP).
Teachers are backing this plan because they see the difference breakfast makes every day. As one staff member at a SEND secondary school wrote:
We are a SEND school and as the majority of students come by transport, they will often be in taxis for up to an hour. Breakfast is very important and has become part of our provision. Our school provides breakfast via Magic Breakfast to the whole school community. We feel that secondary students are just as important as primary and that they need to be able to have breakfast if they need it. Learning and behaviour definitely improve.”
School Business Manager, SEND Secondary School, Surrey
Speaking on the need for free school breakfasts to reach secondary school pupils, a teacher shared:
Poverty and deprivation don’t magically stop when children leave primary school and move on to secondary school. The same issues affecting primary age children affect secondary age children – sometimes more so, as older children are more likely than younger children to take on caring and domestic responsibilities if their family is in some sort of distress.”
Teacher, All through specialist SEN school, London
Offering an example of a flexible provision in action, a primary teacher from our partner school described how their school’s grab-and-go model supports both their own pupils and local secondary school students:
As a primary school we offer a grab and go option, we also have a number of siblings attending the local secondary school that also have this breakfast as they drop off younger children. There is clearly a need.”
Executive Head, Primary School, East Yorkshire
It’s not just teachers in our network backing this. Twinkl, an education platform that provides teaching resources for schools and educators, featured the open letter in their Leader’s Digest blog, helping even more teachers hear about it and take action.
While the open letter has now been submitted, we’re still collecting signatures and messages to keep the pressure on. If you’re a teacher based in England, you can add your name and message in support of this call and we’ll continue passing messages to the Chancellor’s office ahead of the Spending Review announcement.
If you’re not a teacher, you can still support by passing this on to someone who is.
A healthy free school breakfast powers the opportunity to learn and thrive. Let’s make sure no child starts the day too hungry to learn.
