Tuesday, 7 July 2009

8.45am – 9.15am

Craig Yr Hesg Primary School, Pontypridd. 

Education Minister Jane Hutt and Christine Chapman AM will be visiting Craig Yr Hesg Primary School in Pontypridd, to celebrate its' Sunshine Breakfast Club winning first place in the Welsh category of the National Breakfast Club Awards 2009 run by Kellogg’s and learning charity ContinYou.

The Sunshine Breakfast Club started many years ago with the aim of improving the health and well-being of the children by ensuring that all children had access to a healthy nutrious breakfast in a warm and friendly atmosphere.

Education Minister Jane Hutt said: %22Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. There’s a wealth of evidence that supports our view that a healthy breakfast leads to better health, concentration and behaviour in schools. This is why we as a government introduced our Free Breakfast Scheme back in 2004 and why we remain committed in ‘One Wales’ to maintaining the programme of free breakfasts. 

Our free breakfast scheme is giving children a fantastic start to the day with nutritious, healthy food first thing in the morning. It is wonderful to see just how popular the scheme is here at Craig Yr Hesg and I hope the breakfast club will continue to go from strength to strength.%22 

Ms Maggie Hudson, the Head Teacher at the school, explained: "Attendance and punctuality have improved significantly. I firmly believe that the healthy, relaxed and fun start to the day has contributed to the raised standards of attainment, the development of key skills and has improved self-esteem and the self confidence of the children and their families. The breakfast club has also allowed staff to build excellent relationships with the many parents who join their children at the Breakfast Club.

This award has been extremely well received by the school. Both children and staff have appreciated the recognition of their year on year hard work to ensure its continued success. The award confirms for us that Craig Yr Hesg has once again lived up to its school motto: ‘Gyda’n gilydd byddwn ni’n wneud gwahaniaeth’ ‘Together We’ll Make A Difference’ And we do!”

Bruce Learner, Community and Social Responsibility Manager at Kellogg’s, comments: “It’s great to be able to recognise such great breakfast clubs as the Sunshine Breakfast Club, it is an inspiration and really makes a difference to the local children, young people and families in community. Not all children have access to a breakfast club like this which is why Kellogg’s is investing £340,000 over the next three years to develop and support breakfast clubs in the areas that most need them.”

Tony Apicella, National Programme Director at ContinYou, said, “ContinYou is delighted to recognise the rich breadth of delivery that many breakfast clubs provide. Once again, our national awards have spotlighted 'What Works Well' and rewarded all those who have demonstrated how breakfast clubs can support a range of needs for children, young people and families in both school and community settings.”

Kellogg’s has been working with ContinYou since 1998 in which time over £1million has been invested in promoting breakfast clubs and the benefits that they bring to schools all over the UK. It has been consistently proven that breakfast clubs can help to improve attendance, punctuality, concentration levels and educational attainment.

Visit the Breakfast Club Plus webpages for more information about breakfast clubs.