Story & photo Vivienne Pearson
A new breakfast club at Brunswick Heads Public School aims to ensure that no student will start their day on an empty stomach. The school is calling for community volunteers to help.
Relieving principal Melanie Currie says, ‘The before-school time is a time when parents are busy with their own children’.
The breakfast club is planned to run five days a week, from 8am until 9am.
‘We are looking for volunteers to help distribute the food,’ says parent co-ordinator Tahlia Loughnan.
Help the little ones
‘The aim is that students will be relatively self-sufficient, but we need someone there to welcome the children and help out the little ones.’
The club will be run on a no-questions, no-judgment basis.
All involved are keen to see what the flow-on effects of the club might be, with research showing that breakfast is key to maintaining concentration in class and energy for the playground.
Ms Currie is also hopeful that the healthy options on offer will also be appealing for kids who tend to eat high-sugar breakfasts.
The food for the breakfast club will be generously provided by Mullum Foodbox.
‘We are so grateful to Gil Lomath for prompting us to think about starting a breakfast club,’ says Ms Currie.
‘If you are keen to help ensure that local kids are getting the best start to their day, please contact Tahlia on 0490 132 499 or [email protected]’.
If you don’t already have your Working With Children Check, this can be applied for, through Service NSW, at no cost. Tahlia adds, ‘Healthy options will be available to fill young bellies and set them up for a day of success.’
