Another flagship Labour education policy had a rocky relaunch this week as the government named 754 “early adopter” schools that will test new breakfast clubs.
Within days of the announcement, one school had already pulled out of the pilot because participating would hamstring its existing club and force it to lose income.
And campaigners fear the government is rushing its implementation, leaving little time to learn lessons from the first phase.
Schools taking part will have to guarantee 30 minutes of free childcare at the start of the day, as well as healthy breakfasts for pupils. The government plans to make the clubs mandatory for all primary schools next year.
But six in seven of the early adopter schools already have some form of breakfast provision, and some face challenges in how the new scheme will interact with and replace what they’re already doing.
For example, schools that already run longer paid-for provision with charges above the government funding rates face losing income.
The BBC reported this week that Sharneyford Primary in Lancashire, one of the early adopters, had already pulled out.
Sarah Smith, the school’s head, told the broadcaster that because the free 30 minutes have to be immediately before school, and the school’s existing club runs for an hour, “we’d be losing half our earnings, because you can’t charge for that half an hour before the school day”.
All-through and special schools may face issues too. The former would only receive funding for their primary-age pupils, meaning provision would stop at age 11.
Special schools sometimes have classes that span large age ranges, but would only get money for pupils up to year 6.
Extending the policy to the 100,000 secondary-age pupils in special schools would only increase the programme’s scope by 2.2 per cent, charity Magic Breakfast estimates.
There are also concerns that funding will not cover so-called “grab and go” schemes in which smaller schools offer breakfast, but not the extra childcare.
Magic Breakfast CEO Dr Lindsey MacDonald said it was “important that the policy is designed for suitable flexibility to reach the pupils who need it most, every school morning, and maximise benefits for pupils, parents, schools, and communities”.
“The concern with the pilot is they have picked the low hanging fruit and haven’t set aside time to learn any lessons,” added school food expert Andy Jolley.
“The implementation will be rushed and schools will be left carrying the cost.”
Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the NAHT leaders’ union, said it was “vital ministers listen to and act upon feedback.
The introduction of the clubs has also prompted fears about the future of the previous government’s national school breakfast programme, which was open to primary and secondary schools.
The government has so far only committed to continuing with the scheme for the next year.
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, told MPs this week the current scheme “is an online platform from which schools can order food.
“It only covers 75 per cent of food, it does not cover wider costs. Schools are required to contribute the remaining 25 per cent, so there is a significant difference in terms of what we are setting out.”
Other existing schemes include those paid-for by parents “or, in many cases, school breakfast clubs where caps are in place and the numbers are limited”.
Phillipson was also challenged this week over revelations by Schools Week that some schools had pulled out of the early adopters’ scheme or faced having to take a financial hit after being told that the basic funding rate was 60p per pupil.
But she stressed that schools would get £500 to cover initial set-up costs and then a lump sum of £1,099 to cover “fixed staffing costs for the summer term”.
“The purpose behind the early adopters is to [also] allow us to test really effectively what works ahead of a full national roll-out.”
Originally pledged by Labour as a way to boost attendance and attainment, breakfast clubs are now also promoted by ministers as a cost-of-living measure.
The DfE claims they will save parents £450 a year.
But shadow minister Neil O’Brien pointed out handing parents £450 for every pupil “would cost over £2 billion a year”, whereas only £315 million has been allocated to fund breakfast clubs when they are fully rolled-out.
The government said the £450 was based on its own analysis of data showing the median cost of childcare at a breakfast club.
