John Healey told to extend free breakfasts to SEND children in secondary school at Budget

John Healey told to extend free breakfasts to SEND children in secondary school at Budget EXCLUSIVE: Chancellor John Healey is being urged to extend free breakfasts to secondary school-aged children with special educational needs and disabilities John Healey is being urged to extend free breakfasts to secondary school-aged children with special educational needs and disabilities. In its Budget submission to the Chancellor, charity Magic Breakfasts said primary and secondary pupils in special schools are often grouped together based on their need, as opposed to their age, meaning that some classes contain younger kids who are eligible for breakfasts while older pupils miss out. Their submission, seen by The Mirror, added: “Extending the current scope of the policy to include these older pupils will prevent schools from having to make the unacceptable choice between excluding some children from free breakfast provision based on their age, or stretching their already tight budgets to support those children left out of the national programme.” It said such an extension of the breakfast programme would cost just £14.36million over the next three years. Magic Breakfast also called for the breakfast programme to increase the daily funding rate for primary-aged children with SEND in mainstream schools so it is in line with the rate currently provided for pupils with SEND in special schools. Primary pupils in mainstream schools receive £1 per pupil, whereas those in special schools receive £3.23 per pupil. Magic Breakfast, which submitted its proposals in September, said this would cost approximately £7.7m over the next three years - taking their total Budget demands to just £22m. For context, Labour’s manifesto - which pledged to roll out free breakfast clubs for all primary schools - committed £315m for the programme. Natalie Dilworth, Head of Policy & Public Affairs at Magic Breakfast, said extending free breakfasts to more children with SEND will help the Government achieve its inclusion plans. She told The Mirror: “We think this is really important as a key funding ask as we can see the impact that breakfast has for children and young people. We see that in their attainment, in their skills development and in their behaviour. “This could really shift the dial, particularly for this cohort of children and young people who face those higher access challenges because they have special educational needs and disabilities. We want every child to feel empowered, to be thriving, to feel nourished, and for us, this is a step that can support that.” Some 680,000 primary school pupils are currently benefiting from breakfast clubs, which also offer at least 30 minutes of free childcare before the start of the school day. Magic Breakfast also itself provides support or delivers breakfasts to schools who are not part of the programme through charitable donations. Alongside the free breakfast club programme, the Department for Education is also funding secondary school breakfast provision in a number of disadvantaged mainstream and special schools that were former participants of the National School Breakfast Programme (NSBP). Mr Healey will deliver his first Budget of the Burnham premiership next Wednesday 28 October.