Integrating the free breakfast club into wider wraparound care
Source: gov.uk (2025-11-20)

Find out how Devonshire Road Primary School organises the school day to accommodate paid and free breakfast club sessions with additional activities.

Background

Devonshire Road Primary School in Bolton now offers a free breakfast club available to all pupils through the Department for Education’s free breakfast club early adopters scheme (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/breakfast-clubs-early-adopter-guidance-for-schools-and-trusts-in-england).

Early adopter schools are funded to deliver a 30 minute breakfast club, free and available to all pupils, which includes food. Schools have the flexibility to deliver the free breakfast club in a way that best meets the needs of their school, pupils and families.

How the free breakfast club works with the wider wraparound childcare at the school

The school organises the school day to accommodate paid and free sessions. The timings for the morning are as follows:

How they staff the breakfast club

The free breakfast club is delivered by:
- an administrator taking registers
- support staff doing the food preparation
- teaching assistants who offer supervision, support and activity support
- a designated safeguarding lead and special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) being on site and contactable if required
- a learning mentor who is available in the hall from 8:45 am (when the soft start begins) to provide additional safeguarding and also act as a meet and greet for families at the hall door
How SEND is supported

The school guarantees the needs of pupils with SEND by ensuring that:
- all breakfast club teaching assistants (TAs) are trained to support children with additional needs
- the hall where the club is delivered is zoned to provide a quiet space and a zone of regulation
- there is always sufficient staff capacity should a child require one-to-one support
- a SENCo is on site
The food offering

Each day the pupils get a variety of food to choose from including a daily offer of:
- toast and bagels
- fresh fruit
- sugar free yogurts
- cereals
Each day there are specials and hot options which include:
- vegetarian sausages
- baked beans
- spaghetti hoops
- pancakes
- waffles
- scrambled eggs
- mushrooms
Gluten free and dairy free options are available and all food is served is in line with food standards. With attention paid to traffic light labelling (https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/check-the-label#traffic-light-labels) and food sourced to ensure no red label ingredients.

Where the club takes place

The free breakfast club is held in the school hall.

The hall is marked with different zones identifiable by accessible signs to help children navigate around and identify what food and activities are available.

Children are encouraged to help themselves to breakfast, with easy-to-use cereal dispensers and milk jugs. Older children are trained to support and are responsible for serving hot food options.

Activities

A number of activities run alongside the breakfast clubs and have proven to be valuable additions.

Activity zones

There is a board game zone, with snakes and ladders, Connect 4, chess and Penguin Drop proving the most popular.

Creative zones

A creative area provides opportunity for colouring, sticker art and junk modelling.

Physical activity zone

A physical activity zone provides activities such as table football, table tennis and Joe Wicks videos on a rota.

In dry weather there is also outdoor play, including green areas where children can relax and spend time with friends.

Food activities

Baking activities are available 3 times a week, which get the children involved and they can sample the finished product the next day.

A designated eating area allows close monitoring of younger children while they are eating.

The weekly menu allows children to prepare their own food, with breakfast wraps and fruit pot days.

Feedback and impact

The school has observed that:
- there has already been a noticeable improvement on punctuality for the pupils attending the free club and pupils have responded positively towards the club
- the club has positively impacted the children’s attitude to learning and teachers anticipate this to have a positive longer-term impact on pupil attainment
Parents and carers report that:
- the option to drop at 8:30 am rather than 8:45 am provides them with that extra flexibility in the morning, that small time window makes their journey to work far more relaxing and less of a rush
- it is positive to see their children socialising with their peers in a non-classroom environment, engaging in social activities and conversation