Canon Peter Hall CofE Primary School, a member of the Lincoln Anglican Academy Trust, has launched a new breakfast café with support from the Greggs Foundation, a programme set up by the bakery chain to help primary school children get a nutritious start to their school day. Greggs supplies as much bread as the school needs from the nearest Greggs shop and provides a grant towards start-up and ongoing costs. Canon Peter Hall is putting the grant towards catering equipment for the café, such as new toasters, tablecloths and trolleys, and even games and art supplies for the children to play with before lessons begin.
The school’s Executive Headteacher, Sandra Fawn, says the breakfast café is proving a big hit with pupils – and their parents. She comments: “The café opens its doors at 7.45 am and is free for all pupils and there’s no requirement to book in advance. The children who come along really enjoy meeting up with their classmates and having breakfast together. We’ve also had positive feedback from parents who say they find it very helpful and a great way to encourage children to eat a wholesome breakfast.”
The school’s deputy safeguarding lead is in attendance during breakfast so children or parents can discuss any worries they may have. Members of staff, a PE apprentice and two upper school pupils are also on hand to help serve breakfast and to assist with games and socialising before the school day gets under way.
Summing up the success of Canon Peter Hall’s new breakfast café, Sandra Fawn says: “I actually applied to join the Greggs Foundation back in 2015 but it’s been well worth the wait. Breakfast is often regarded as the most important meal of the day and so we feel very privileged to be able to kickstart our school day together in such a positive way. At the moment around 50-70 out of a total of 220 pupils attend the café and with such a great response since it opened I’m sure this number will grow. In fact, we are already planning to expand our menu of cereals, toast, yoghurt and fruit so we can offer more options to even more children.”
As part of its primary school support programme, the Greggs Foundation also offers access to other resources including a Hardship Fund and learning packs. A recent pack for Year 6 students from Rethink Food, an initiative which looks at the problems of food poverty and food waste, provides schoolchildren with an informative introduction to COP26 and asks them to consider what is being done in this country to tackle climate change.
