Headteacher turns down government free breakfast club scheme over cost fears

Headteacher turns down government free breakfast club scheme over cost fearsBarbara Middleton, of Shiremoor Primary School in Newcastle, has declined Government breakfast club offer due to the 'financial and logistical' challenges.NewsJeremy Armstrong News Reporter15:11, 20 Apr 2026View 3 ImagesSir Keir Starmer at a recent visit to a breakfast club(Image: PA)A primary school headteacher has said she has declined the Government's free breakfast club scheme as she warned it is too expensive for her school to take part in.‌Barbara Middleton, of Shiremoor Primary School in Newcastle, has declined the free breakfast club offer due to the financial and logistical challenges involved. She said a key issue she had with the programme was that schools were forced to allocate at least 30 minutes before lessons began for the breakfast.‌She added: "The funding being paid doesn't afford me the employees that I would need to be able to run that safely. "‌View 3 ImagesSir Keir Starmer , Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham at Holy Trinity Primary School breakfast club in Ashton Under Lyne(Image: Men Media)READ MORE: School lunch shake-up to ban deep-fried food and staple desserts - see new menusREAD MORE: 'I pulled my kids out of the "bonkers school system" after my son's sad admission'Sir Keir Starmer met with staff at a school breakfast club in Manchester last week as he announced 500 more free breakfast clubs last week. The Department for Education (DfE) said many schools found the scheme "fair and workable".Schools receive £25 a day plus £1 per pupil taking part from the government, with the funds supposed to be used to pay for the food and staffing costs involved. Headteacher Craig Brown, of Dean Bank Primary and Nursery School in Ferryhill, Co Durham, signed up to the scheme and will begin offering the free club later this month.‌He estimated the school would receive £10,000 from the government over the next academic...