In 2021, Leopold Primary students munched their way through 1,400 kilograms of food, the equivalent weight of an average adult giraffe, thanks to Victoria's School Breakfast Clubs program.
Since its launch in 2016, the program has delivered an incredible 20 million free meals to 1,000 Victorian schools.
Students at Leopold Primary made a significant contribution to the milestone, ploughing through 270 kilograms of fresh fruit and vegetables, 913 litres of milk, and 71 kilograms of cereals last year.
Principal Stuart Bott said the school's breakfast club was a big part of their day and brought a range of benefits to the school community.
'One morning, 3 kids were crying, so I said, "Come over here and have breakfast with me",' Stuart explained.
'The breakfast club helps to create a great start to the day and gets the students to stay at school, rather than getting upset and going home.'
The clubs share more than the gift of a healthy and nutritious breakfast to start the day.
Stuart shared how the program helped students and families connect to the school wellbeing team while encouraging students of all ages to get to know each other.
'The program gets students connecting across all year levels, which has helped us to create our Leopold Primary School family,' he said.
Stuart explained that the breakfast club has helped to develop student confidence.
'One of our Grade 6 students started cooking and buttering all the toast recently,' Stuart said.
'He's struggled with school in the past and this has given him a chance to show leadership. He loves helping other kids.'
The experience of Leopold Primary is common among the program's participating schools.
The School Breakfast Clubs program is delivered in partnership with Foodbank Victoria. The program was established in 2016 to address the alarming statistic that 1 in 5 Victorian students was going to school without breakfast each day.
Across the board, school leaders have found that the nutritious Breakfast Club meals are helping students to concentrate for longer.
What's more, the program has led to:
- greater social outcomes for students and the school community
- improved student engagement
- strengthened staff-student relationships
- enhanced social skills
- better academic performance.
Find out more
Refer to the School Breakfast Clubs program.
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