11 March 2021

Earlier this week, the Labour Party called for the Government to introduce breakfast clubs in all schools in England, to help children catch up on lost learning as a result of the pandemic and socialise with friends. The Labour Party have indicated they are calling for the Government to support all primary and secondary schools to introduce universal free school breakfasts for an initial period of three years.

Magic Breakfast warmly welcomes this announcement from the Labour Party. Universal free school breakfast provision in all schools would ensure no child starts the day too hungry to learn. We believe that universal provision would help break down the stigma that can be associated with a child accessing free food at school, and would help drive take-up of the offer amongst the children most at risk of hunger.

We were particularly pleased to see Labour’s press announcement refer to evidence from the Education Endowment Foundation which found that KS1 children who attended a school with a Magic Breakfast supported universal school breakfast provision made two months’ additional academic progress over a year. We believe that school breakfasts can, and should, play an important role in supporting children’s recovery from COVID-19 and beyond. Even after COVID-19 recovery efforts, school breakfasts will continue to address classroom hunger and contribute to tackling the attainment gap – issues that existed long before the pandemic.   

Labour’s announcement follows Emma Lewell-Buck MP’s School Breakfast Bill which was introduced in Parliament in October 2020. Ahead of the First Reading of the School Breakfast Bill, Magic Breakfast was proud to support Emma Lewell-Buck in her campaign to build cross-party political support for school breakfasts.

We continue to work towards our mission to ensure no child is too hungry to learn, and eagerly await further information about the Government’s future school breakfast funding intentions.