Maybe it’s the smell of butter melting on hot toast but the interest and attendance from Eden Marine High School students every morning at the school’s Brekkie Bar is immense.
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The Brekkie Bar runs each day from 8:30am to 8:55am and is a way for the school to show students the importance of eating a healthy breakfast.
A recent survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics of almost 24,000 school kids showed that around 15 per cent of kids head off to school without any breakfast, and that figure is on the rise.
It also shows that while primary children are more likely to consume breakfast – in part because their parents are more likely at this age to prepare and enforce this meal – by secondary school one in five kids skip breakfast.
Eden Marine High School is trying to break the mold and ensure that students start the day with a full tummy.
Staff Monique Larkham, Melissa Hunter and Claire Hoffman volunteer their time to cook and prepare the breakfast for the hundreds of hungry kids at the school.
Year 11 student Lily Hazelgrove said she couldn’t thank these volunteers enough.
“Students can only praise the work Monique, Melissa and Claire put in daily to make sure every student has the opportunity to a breakfast,” Lily said.
“This service is provided free at the school and the ladies who run the Brekkie Bar should be praised for their hard work.
“Getting up for school can be hard but going to school on an empty tummy is worse. Most people seem to skip breakfast at least once a week; some don’t have breakfast at all.”
Lily said even those who do manage to have breakfast before heading to school can find themselves starving by the time recess rolls around.
“Living in a rural area means that a lot of students have to catch a bus quite early in the morning and are hungry again by the time they arrive to school,” she said.
Lily said having either a full breakfast or just a snack of fruit at this time before class starts allows the students to focus on learning rather than their own hunger.
Students are able to eat from the Brekkie Bar free of charge thanks to the generosity of Coles Eden who support the service by donating the necessary, bread, butter, spreads and fruit to make the Brekkie Bar possible.
The volunteers who serve the breakfast said that students are always expected to be polite and use manners as they collect their food, allowing for them to get a good start to the day.
