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<p>The government supports the provision of nutritious food in schools, which ensures
that pupils are well nourished, develop healthy eating habits and can concentrate
and learn. Under the benefits-related criteria, there are currently 1.6 million pupils
eligible for and claiming a free school meal, and a further 1.4 million infant-aged
children who benefit from our Universal Infant Free School Meals policy.</p><p>The
government also funds breakfast clubs in over 2,450 schools to support more than a
quarter of a million children in the most disadvantaged areas of the country. Up to
£24 million will be available to extend our support for school breakfast clubs until
2023, to make sure that thousands of children in disadvantaged areas have a healthy
start to the day. We know that breakfast clubs can bring a wide range of benefits
for children. An evaluation by the Education Endowment Foundation found that supporting
schools to run a free-of-charge, universal breakfast club before school delivered
an average of 2 months’ additional progress for pupils in key stage 1 with moderate
to low security. Breakfast club schools also saw an improvement in pupil behaviour
and attendance.</p><p>Backed by an investment of up to £220 million, the Holiday Activities
and Food programme ran nationwide throughout the Easter holiday period and will run
during the summer and Christmas holidays in 2021, supporting disadvantaged pupils
with enriching activities, providing them with healthy food, helping them to learn
new things and improving socialisation. This programme builds on pilots of the scheme
since 2018, including last summer’s programme, which supported around 50,000 children
across 17 local authorities. We have developed this programme, as we know that disadvantaged
children are more likely to experience unhealthy holidays (in terms of nutrition and
physical exercise), are less likely to take part in enriching activities and can experience
isolation during the holidays.</p>
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