Barnsley Pupils Enjoy Free Breakfasts as Education Recruiter Tackles Child Hunger in One of Country's Most Deprived Areas

Hundreds of children have enjoyed free breakfasts before learning at a Barnsley school which received support this week from one of the UK's largest education workforce providers.

Laithes Primary School in Barnsley is one of four schools across England receiving a week of free breakfast provision from Affinity Workforce as part of its Before the Bell campaign, which aims to tackle child hunger in classrooms.

l-r  William Bennett Divisional Manager CER, Chris Carter Regional Manager CER, Georgina Fletcher and Ruslana Yarmolyuk, Laithes Primary School with pupils Tegan 10, Tyler 11 and Tally 11.

All 314 pupils at the Smithies school have been receiving fruit, a croissant and a drink each morning this week before lessons begin.

The school serves one of the most deprived communities in the country, with 58 per cent of pupils eligible for Pupil Premium. Many families have been impacted by the rising cost of living, with some children arriving at school without having eaten breakfast.

Georgina Fletcher, Headteacher at Laithes Primary School, said: "We're in a catchment of particularly high deprivation. For various reasons, many of our children either don't have time or the opportunity to have breakfast in the morning. The children have really enjoyed it this week. Some have told us it's been the first time they've tried a croissant and they loved it.

"We see children who don't have a breakfast struggle to concentrate in the day. It doesn't have to be an expensive breakfast, just something to get them going and get the energy levels up. The government have talked about funding breakfast clubs for all schools and I do think that's an absolute priority."

Chris Carter, Regional Director for CER Education, part of Affinity Workforce, said: "It's been a fantastic opportunity to support one of our local primary schools in Barnsley with the delivery of over 1,600 breakfasts over the week. It's been great to see the children having breakfast, being sociable, and knowing they've got a good start to the day.

"There was one pupil with additional needs who initially wasn't sure about eating the croissant and apple, but by the end of the week they ended up eating it and really enjoying it. That was a really nice example of pupils trying something new.

"It's also been great for our staff to do something different, to go and see the pupils and get involved in something so important that affects their learning. The school was really overwhelmed with the input and contribution from the team."

Affinity Workforce's research, conducted among supply teachers working across England, found that almost one in three teachers see hungry children at the start of the school day every single day. Teachers said that 59 per cent of pupils are too hungry to concentrate in morning lessons, while 70 per cent said hunger affects classroom behaviour.

Following the launch of Before the Bell, the government announced that it will extend free school meals to all children in households on Universal Credit from September 2026, benefiting over 500,000 children, and fund breakfast clubs in schools across England.

Laithes Primary is one of four schools receiving free breakfast provision in January. The other schools are in Birmingham, Wirral and London. In total, Affinity Workforce will have served over 8,500 breakfasts across the four schools by the end of the campaign.

Affinity Workforce provides temporary staff to schools, multi-academy trusts, colleges and training providers across the UK through its brands Affinity Partnerships, Career Teachers, CER Education, Monarch Education and The Protocol Group.