Honiton Primary School pupils love it!

THERE is a new, fun and tasty way to start the day at Honiton Community Primary School - thanks to parents.

They identified a gap in wrap-around care at the school and now breakfast and after school clubs have been launched.

In just two months, the clubs have really taken off and it is not just children of working parents who are benefiting. Children are asking to attend the sessions as a treat. “I am really impressed with how popular the clubs have become in a short space of time,” said headteacher Andrea Brown.

Assistant headteacher Julie Blanchford said the clubs are attracting more children by the day “as word spreads”.

“Children are telling their parents it is something they would like to go to,” she said.

“They get to play and interact. The breakfast club is a great start to the day and provides children with a healthy breakfast.”

She added: “The clubs have filled a great need in busy parents’ lives. Children are safe and looked after, and it is a cheap option compared to some other child care provisions. It is a place they feel comfortable in.”

As well as being able to tuck into breakfast, the children can dress up, play sports and even make use of the school’s ICT suite. A quiet room is being developed and, in the summer, children will be able to enjoy eating produce grown in the school grounds.

Devon Roe-Lavery, five, told The Midweek Herald he enjoys eating his breakfast at school, a sentiment echoed by Harry Blackwell, four. Sisters Aimee and Ruby Hill, aged six and four, respectively, said they like dressing up the best.

The clubs’ leader is Karin Forsyth, who explained: “Parents use the clubs for differing lengths of time, because it is flexible. Not all children, for example, attend the breakfast club from 8am. Some join us at 8.30am. It is the same after school.”

Children from the age of three can join the clubs, which run from 8am to 8.50am (mornings) and from 3pm to 6pm (after school). The cost of the breakfast club is �3 and it is �3 per hour after school.