St Joseph’s Primary School recently hosted the launch of Council’s School Breakfast Resource Kit.
This resource provides all the information schools need to start a breakfast program at their school.
Starting a breakfast program can help ensure children start the day with a healthy and nutritious breakfast, which can benefit them in a range of ways by:
- increasing a child’s ability to concentrate in class
- improving punctuality
- increasing a child’s social skills
- improving overall health and wellbeing
- providing a child with the right tools to make informed decisions around food
- giving older children extra responsibility to assist with the running of the program
- strengthening the school’s strong sense of community.
Student Linara Demel (Year 6) said: “I like coming to breakfast club because there’s fresh fruit and healthy food which helps us learn”.
Belinda Nowakowski, Healthy Kids Advisor – City of Greater Dandenong from the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation said school principals told her how more students were coming to school hungry.
“They didn’t know how to set up a breakfast program or even where to start.
“So I began compiling a list of simple and healthy breakfast recipes for the schools, tips on how to source food donations and volunteers, and even a guide to emergency food relief organisations for families in need.
“It’s so satisfying to see how initial conversations with my Council partners led to developing the fantastic resource we have launched,” said Belinda.
Belinda offers free one-on-one support to local schools, outside hours school care, sports clubs and community/council facilities to help boost access to fresh, delicious food and drink. For more information visit the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation website.
