On January 7, Pembroke Park Primary School set up a ‘snack shack’, offering pupils bagels when they come into school, regardless of whether they have already had breakfast or not.
Acting headteacher Clare McCracken said: “We just noticed not all of our children come to school having had breakfast and we were just trying to think of a way to make sure we can include everybody.”
The snack shack offers plain bagels and honey drizzled bagels to pupils as they come in – so they do not have to come any earlier and can eat before their first lesson.
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Over the Christmas holidays, the site manager set up a shed from B&Q which is used to hand out bagels, which are subsidised.
Clare added: “We’ve got children running to school to get bagels in the morning.
Children run up to get bagels every morning (Image: Pembroke Park Primary) “It just sets them up for the day, knowing they’ve got food in their bellies. It’s only been going for three days but we’ve had really positive feedback.”
With some families sacrificing their own meals to feed their children, the school hopes to expand the offering so parents can grab a coffee or dry food when they come in each day.
Any donations of dry foods can be made to the reception to support families in need.