Suffolk: Free School Breakfasts Boost Learning

8 March 2013, 06:00

A charity's begun offering free healthy breakfasts in schools as part of a project to improve exam results in Suffolk.

Last year Suffolk was in the bottom 10 in the country for results.

Since then the County Council have begun a big push to improve exam results.

Now, a charity called Healthy Ambitions has started offering healthy school meals in some of Suffolks schools. They are training volunteers to teach children how to make their own healthy breakfast and where it comes from.

Chief Executive of Healthy Ambitions, Richard Powell, says, “We know how important a good breakfast is to a successful day at school, greatly improving concentration and behaviour in children. It can also be the start of a real understanding of healthy food that we hope will make these children Suffolk’s healthiest, whatever their background. Healthy Ambitions is all about action to make real change for people’s health in the county. With recent figures showing Suffolk to be the third worst performing authority for primary education, and with a direct correlation between child poverty and attainment, it is clear that action is needed for Suffolk’s schools.”

Wickham Market Primary School is one of the first schools to try the scheme.

Their Headteacher Joanne Stanley-Bell spoke to Heart's Hannah Griffiths:

Breakfast Club - Headteacher Joanne Stanley-Bell

On a visit to Wickham Market Primary School, the Schools Commissioner Dr Elizabeth Sidwell spoke to Heart reporter Hannah Griffiths:

Breakfast Club Schools Commissioner