The breakfast club at St David’s Church in Wales Primary School in Colwinston has been shortlisted in the competition to win £2000 and the Kellogg’s Prize for ‘Best Breakfast Club’.
The club is regularly attended by forty pupils from the village and the surrounding area. Teachers describe the ‘wrap around care’ as ‘vital’ in a fairly remote village where both parents of many children commute to Cardiff.
Colwinston’s breakfast club was nominated for the award by Vale MP Alun Cairns who was impressed by the ethos and innovate practices created by the teachers running the club.
One of the most important aspects of the club is the ‘buddy-system’, whereby older children are partnered with younger pupils to help them to fill their bowls and cut their food.
Alongside traditional breakfast club activities of soft-play and colouring-in, children are encouraged to read a newspaper as they eat their breakfast. Although national newspapers are available, the Glamorgan GEM is the overwhelmingly popular choice for the youngsters.
Teachers running the scheme fear being over-stretched in the near future by an influx of children from the new Redrow estate being built in the village. This makes the extra resources that would come from winning the competition all the more important for the club.
Vale MP Alun Cairns said, “It was a joy to visit the breakfast club at St David’s school in Colwinston. The teachers have done a fantastic job of creating a club with a hugely positive ethos, focused on healthy food as well as an opportunity for the oldest and youngest pupils to play together.”