A group of 150 headteachers has urged the chancellor to hike school breakfast funding at next month’s budget, warning pupils are “unable” to learn and disrupting lessons as hunger is “steadily getting worse”.
A letter co-ordinated by the Magic Breakfast charity to Jeremy Hunt said he must act on a recent speech which called providing a good education a moral and economic “mission”.
It comes as the Local Government Association also warned 215,000 eligible children were not receiving free school meals, with councils backing a “streamlined” system of auto-enrolment rather than parents having to apply.
In their letter, heads warned the national school breakfast programme, which is funded by the government until 2024, will only reach a quarter of the 10,000 schools across England that experience “high” levels of disadvantage.
