SOME pupils at Beech Grove Primary School in Wellington have been arriving for class in the morning feeling hungry because they have not been given any breakfast, councillors have been told.

Members of Wellington Town Council’s finance committee were shocked when the school’s business manager, Deb McKie, told them on April 17 the startling news that children were hungry when coming to school.

“Parents who are over the threshold for benefits are still struggling and children are coming to school feeling hungry,” she said. “Teaching is being delayed because classes have hungry children.”

Beech Grove already runs successful breakfast clubs and after-school groups for children to help those parents who work, but now it wants to provide all pupils with something to eat at the start of the day.

The school has asked the council for funding towards providing all 285 pupils with half a bagel on arrival at school each day and also a healthy cereal snack at morning break for the 170 children in Key Stage Two.

“We now have an ambitious aim to provide food to all the children at Beech Grove,” said Deb. “We recognise the financial strain on our parents and carers and we want to do what we can to ensure that the children are having a healthy start to the day.

“It is our aim to provide the children with morning bagels and a healthy cereal snack at mid-morning break.”

But that aim comes at a cost - £10,043, to be precise, from April this year through to July 2025.

Not deterred at the costs involved, councillors said the project could be a town-wide initiative and be looked at for other schools in Wellington.

Cllr Justin Cole said: “Could we look at rolling this out across the town?”

Cllr Mark Lithgow said: “Beech Grove’s catchment area is one of the most deprived areas of Wellington as opposed to other areas of the town.”

Cllr Andy Govier said: “I support funding for Beech Grove, but is there a larger picture we should be looking at?

“The catchment areas around the town are chaotic because schools have reached capacity, but I wonder if we could look at this situation.

“This is all about giving children a good start to the day, but it shouldn’t be done on a postcard lottery.

“We should look at this further and see if there is an appetite – no pun intended – for a wider project.”

Cllr Cole suggested that they supported the scheme until the end of the summer term and work with the school to see how it works.

Councillors agreed to award funding for the end of July 2024 at a cost of £2,842.50 with a review in late June to assess and provide clarification on funding for the following academic year.

Cllrs Cole and Govier will form a group, in the meantime, with deputy town clerk Alice Kendall and the One Team co-ordinator to carry out a full review and look at a possible town-wide initiative.