Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. In fact, research has shown that when children eat breakfast, they tend to perform better at school. The teachers at Macquarie Fields Public School wanted to eliminate breakfast as a possible cause of distraction and lack of focus in their classrooms. So, they set about creating a daily breakfast club, made possible in part thanks to a ClubGRANT from Ingleburn RSL Club.
Back to basics
It’s straightforward enough to serve cereal and the like at a breakfast club. But with approximately 900 students, the most efficient way to cook and serve toast is with a conveyor toaster.
“We needed a toaster, but we weren’t sure how we were going to fit it,” recalls teacher Kristy Miller. “They can cost from $700 up to thousands of dollars.”
Kristy did some research and came across the Ingleburn RSL Club ClubGRANTS. She decided to apply for a grant of $800 to fund the purchase of the toaster.
“We didn’t need a really high-tech toaster,” she explains. “We just needed a toaster that we could use for thirty minutes each morning while the breakfast club runs.”
More than just breakfast
The breakfast club started as a way to ensure that all the students at the school had the sustenance they needed for a busy day at school. Much to the delight of the teachers, it has turned into so much more than that.
“When the children eat breakfast together in the morning, they sit with different children than they normally would,” says Kristy. “They’re developing friendships beyond their class peers and having conversations beyond their usual social groups.”
The school has also reached out to the school community from time to time for donations to keep the breakfast club going. Kristy this has added to the community connection that has developed through the program.
“The student leaders are in charge of washing the dishes each day,” she adds. “This is another layer to the benefit of the breakfast club as the teachers also get to connect with the leaders about how they’re going.”
For us at Ingleburn RSL Club, seeing the impact a simple toaster can have is what drives us.
“ClubGRANTS do so much good in the community,” says Glenn Cushion, CEO of Ingleburn RSL Club. “The grant we provided was for a toaster but to hear of the school and community benefits is so heartwarming.”
We invite you to learn more about ClubGRANTS and how they can benefit your community.
