Early Breakfast Clubs Adopters in Devon

The government has now named 750 schools that will act as “early adopters” of its new breakfast clubs programme.

A trial announced last year would guarantee 30 minutes of free childcare at the start of the day along with healthy food. Breakfast Clubs will eventually be mandatory in all primaries.

The DfE has said the new scheme will provide substantially more funding than the previous one, under which schools received only food and were asked to contribute 25 per cent of costs. However, the funding available for the trial scheme has prompted some headteachers to warn it is unworkable. The basic funding rate is just 60p per pupil, with some headteachers involved in the pilot scheme already saying that funding does not cover costs.

The scheme will start from April, but individual schools will decide when exactly to begin their new provision.

Devon schools taking part in the pilot scheme are: