1. Is there a charge for primary breakfast provision?
No payment is required; breakfast is provided free of charge. Breakfast club attendance depends on a successful application.
2. Does an application have to be made for every child who will attend breakfast club?
Yes. An application must be made for all children before they attend breakfast club.
Only 1 application is required per household even if children attend different schools (the form allows you to choose the school for each child).
To complete an application, visit: - Primary School Free Breakfast Club
3. I do not have the resources to complete an application form on-line. What can I do to apply for a place?
Your school administration staff should be available to support you, but in their absence, please call Education Support on 01443 281141.
4. How does the application process work?
Once the application has been completed, you will receive an email confirming the child(ren) have been successfully registered to attend the breakfast club.
If the school is unable to accommodate the child(ren) at this time, the system will not allow the application to be completed.
5. It is part way through the term, and a change in personal circumstances now means I need to access breakfast club. Can I still apply?
Yes, the application can be made, and if there is a capacity available, the child(ren) will be accepted into breakfast club.
6. What if my child has a medically prescribed dietary requirement?
Every effort will be made to support pupils who have a medically prescribed dietary requirement, but breakfast cannot be provided until the appropriate medical evidence is submitted and a bespoke menu created for them (please note, this can take up to 21 days to arrange, or longer if the diet is complex).
If your child needs a medically prescribed diet, and does not have the necessary arrangements in place with Catering Services, you are encouraged to apply for this now at: http://www.rctcbc.gov.uk/MedicallyPrescribedDiet
You do not have to wait until the application process for breakfast club opens. Applying now for the medically prescribed diet will help to reduce delays to the service provision.
7. I have applied for the medically prescribed diet, but it is still in progress, and I have not yet received notification that is has been implemented. Can my child attend breakfast club?
Yes, your child can attend breakfast club, however, we cannot feed your child until the necessary arrangements are in place. Please give your child breakfast at home before you bring them to the breakfast club session(s).
8. What time does the breakfast club start and finish?
Please check this information directly with the school.
9. Why can’t every child that attends the school, get an automatic registration for free breakfast club?
Several factors are considered for the safe planning and organisation of a free breakfast club.
Free breakfast club takes place before the school day so a bespoke risk assessment is undertaken to establish the number of pupils (over and under the age of 5), which can be safely fed and supervised during this period in the space available.
10. Has the free breakfast club application closed?
No, the free breakfast club application process has not closed.
If you have successfully secured a place in free breakfast club, you will receive a confirmation email stating that you have successfully secured a place.
If a club reaches its full capacity, you will see the following message when you select the name of your child’s school.
‘Please contact the school directly; they will place your child(ren) on a reserve waiting list and discuss an alternative free breakfast provision with you’.
The system will not allow you to proceed any further for that school; if you contact the school, they should be able to take your details for a reserve waiting list. Once a space becomes available in the free breakfast club, as space will be allocated.
11. Why are there capacity pressures in free breakfast club?
Unfortunately, there appears to be an over-application for the provision as some parents/carers have applied as a precautionary measure.
Attendance for free breakfast club will be regularly reviewed and non-attendance may result in the allocated space being rescinded. An unused place is preventing another child from accessing the provision of a breakfast.
It is important to note that the provision is intended to provide access to a healthy free breakfast to the children that require it at the start of the school day.
12. Will there be spaces available in September?
Most schools have capacity. However, in a small number of schools the capacity for free breakfast club has been reached and it is unlikely that a space will become available in September. Every school will monitor the attendance of those who are registered to attend, and regular non-attenders will be approached to establish whether the place is required or whether it can be released for someone on the reserve/waiting list.
It is important to note that the families of children that do not eat free breakfast in the provision will also be contacted, as the provision has been established with the clear intention of providing free breakfast for the pupils that require it.
13. I tried to apply for 2 children, but I could only complete an application for one child. Why is this?
When you start the application and choose the school for the 1st child, the system will reduce the capacity available at the school to allow you to complete the registration. If you were unable to register a 2nd child, it means there was no further availability.
14. I was speaking to a friend who said they completed an application successfully after I couldn’t. How is this possible?
It is not impossible for this to happen, but this would be highly unlikely. When an application is started, and the school is chosen, the space is removed from availability until the form is submitted for completion (there is a timed limit to this process). If another parent/carer aborted their application, and did not complete the submission, the place would be released and made available for another person to reserve. However, this would be an exceptional situation.
15. After registering my child(ren), I received an email that said: -
‘Thank you for registering the child(ren) for free breakfast club’.
or
‘You have successfully registered your child(ren) to attend free breakfast club at the school listed in the detail below’.
Does this mean that my child(ren) have a place for free breakfast club in September?
Yes, this email confirms that your child(ren) have a place in the chosen free breakfast club. The email will state the details of the school, and each child you have successfully registered. It will also provide a unique reference number that your school administration staff, can use to search against your information if they need to.
16. I completed and submitted the application form to register my child(ren) for free breakfast club, but I haven’t seen any email, why is this?
It is possible that you forgot to tick a box which requests agreement for your data to be used. This has to be ticked.
At the end of your registration, you would have viewed a screen which provided a page containing a Summary of information, and a tick box for agreement to use data. Once this box is ticked you will then have submitted the application. At this point, an automated email is generated with the header:
‘Thank you for registering the child(ren) for free breakfast club’.
or
‘You have successfully registered your child(ren) to attend free breakfast club at the school listed in the detail below’.
Some emails will not have reached their intended destination because they may have been automatically filtered into SPAM or JUNK folders, or not delivered due to an error in the email address provided. Please check these folders.
17. I am still unsure if I have been successful in registering my child(ren) for the free breakfast club. How can I check this information?
Every school has access to live information on all successful registrations for their free breakfast club. Please ask your school to check their free breakfast club data dashboard.
18. I registered my Nursery age child(ren) to attend, but the school has said they cannot currently accept Nursery children in the free breakfast club. Why is this?
Nursery age children require extra supervision during free breakfast club; if the school has said they are currently not accepting these younger children, the decision will have been based on their risk assessment and staffing levels to meet legal requirements to suitably support them.
19. My children use free breakfast club so I can go to work, but there is no space available.
It is recognised that many parents/carers will benefit from bringing their children to the site in advance of the start of the school day. However, the purpose of free breakfast club is to provide children with a free breakfast at the start the school day.
If you child does not require a healthy free breakfast prior to the start of the school day, then parents/carers are expected to make their own childcare arrangements before the start of the school day.
20. I registered my child(ren) for the free breakfast club, as I may need to use it one day in the future, but I now realise that there are other families who use the club regularly and have not been successful in securing a place. How do I withdraw my registration?
You can contact your school administration team via email (or in person) and provide them with the basic details (and reservation number if possible), they will then liaise with the local authority to arrange that the place is released to those on the reserve/waiting list. There might be a short delay before these additional places can be released and places confirmed with new parents/carers.
21. If I withdraw the place/s I have reserved for my child(ren), can I automatically pass it over to my friend?
It is not possible to transfer a place; once released. The school will re-allocate a place in due course based on the waiting list they hold. However, this will require some administrative processes and liaison with the local authority to ensure that digital records are appropriately amended and updated.
22. Is there a reserve/waiting list I can place my child(ren) on?
Yes, please communicate directly with the school. You will be asked to provide the following information:
- Name of Parent/Carer
- Home address
- Contact email address
- Contact telephone number
- Name of child(ren)
- Date of birth of child(ren)
- Does the child(ren) have Welsh language skills
- Does the child(ren) have a Medically prescribed diet
23. I believe that some of the families who have registered successfully, don’t ever use the service. Will spaces be released if people are not using the free breakfast club?
Every school will monitor the attendance of those who are registered to attend, and regular non-attenders will be approached to establish whether the place is required or whether it can be released for someone on the reserve/waiting list.
24. I have forgotten to apply on-line for the free breakfast club. What should if I do?
If your child(ren) have not been registered on-line to attend free breakfast club, but the school still has availability, it is essential that you register them online before bringing them to free breakfast club.
25. I have been told that the free breakfast club is full. What if I just drop my child(ren) off?
You are respectfully asked not to bring children to the free breakfast club if you have not successfully secured a place.