Setting up a free breakfast club

Staffing your free breakfast club

You can choose how to staff your breakfast club based on the needs of your pupils.

Some staffing options include using:

existing support staff, for example teaching assistants or school supervisors
a private, voluntary or independent (PVI) childcare provider
new recruits, including those seeking flexible work or who are new to childcare
volunteers that are appropriately supervised

You can determine how many staff are needed to safely protect the welfare of your pupils. To make this decision, you should consider:

the type of activities held at the club
the age and needs of children, including SEND or medical needs
if any children require one-to-one support
safeguarding

If your provision includes reception aged children or younger (aged 5 and under), you should make sure there are enough staff in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) for group and school-based provision.

Warning An Enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check with barred lists is mandatory for anyone working with children.

Spaces and premises

Free breakfast clubs can be run on the school site or at a nearby, off-site location.

You can use a:

variety of settings, such as halls, classrooms and outdoor areas
setting that is within easy walking distance for staff
combination of settings that help them meet changing demand and weather conditions

When choosing an appropriate space for the free breakfast club, you should consider:

space size
proximity to kitchen facilities
ease of access for pupils and staff
whether the space is suitable for long-term use

Food

Schools are expected to provide healthy, nutritious and varied breakfasts for pupils. These can be hot or cold and should set pupils up for the day ahead.

You can choose how to source and provide food, depending on your pupils' needs.

Options include:

sourcing food directly from suppliers, including breakfast club providers or supermarkets
utilising an existing catering contract or establishing a new one with a local authority or private catering company
using a buying framework. You can learn about frameworks in A beginner's guide to using frameworks for school buying - Buying for Schools (opens in new tab)

You can use get help buying for schools (opens in new tab) for support buying everything the free breakfast club needs to operate.

What support is available for schools

You can learn more about how to set up a free breakfast club in the full programme guidance (opens in new tab). Resources and templates to support schools are available in the breakfast club blueprint (opens in new tab).

Schools who have accepted a place on the programme will have access to webinars where they can ask questions and raise any concerns. Schools will also hear from free breakfast club champions who will share best practice and different approaches to delivery.

You can access examples of how other schools, including special schools, are delivering free breakfast clubs in these school case studies (opens in new tab).

If you need support from an expert advisor you can use the contact us form to get help.