That’s proven to be the case for Albion Park Rail Public School students who have dined out on a breakfast program.

This healthy start to the day has helped students be more alert and focused in class, as well as save 14.4 tonnes of food waste from landfill in the process.

“It really is a very important and positive program. It makes a real difference to their education,” deputy principal Glenn Southwell said.

ALL Sustainable Futures provided food for the trial project which ran over two school terms.

The not-for profit organisation received funding from the Environmental Trust and Environment Protection Authority (EPA) as part of NSW EPA’s Waste Less, Recycle More initiative to purchase a refrigerated food van to collect donated food from local businesses in the Illawarra.

The food was prepared by two chefs into a delicious, nutritious and free breakfast for 350 primary school children each Friday morning.

Lisa Miller from ALL Sustainable Futures said trialing the program at Albion Park Rail made sense because “it was a low socio-economic area and had a 20 per cent indigenous population”.

“The program was very successful, the kids thought it was fantastic,” she said.

University of Wollongong researchers also created a cookbook learning resource with recipes based on the fruits and vegetables grown in the school garden, as part of the program.

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They also did an evaluation of the breakfast program, which found that dishing up healthy breakfasts to students improves health, increases focus and even makes them keen to go to school.

It is estimated that one in seven children in NSW do not receive a proper meal before reaching the school gates, a number that is much greater in disadvantaged communities.

At the same time, food wastage is a growing issue for society, with Australians shown to be throwing away about $8 billion worth of edible food each year.

The ‘breaking barriers, breaking bread’ initiative was run at Albion Park Rail Public School with the aim of providing a solution to these two issues by using donated food to feed primary school students.

The UOW research found that not only did the program reduce food waste, it had a positive effect on students’ willingness to attend school, their alertness and behaviour, as well as creating a supportive environment for families on low incomes who lack access to nutritious foods.

The evaluation found that one in five children interviewed arrived at school without having breakfast at least once per week while one in three children reported being hungry on arrival at school.

Associate Professor Karen Charlton said while the program was running, school attendance was close to 100 per cent.

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“We have been honoured to work with such a dedicated group of teachers and hope to continue to support the school to improve the food security of the students and their families,” Prof Charlton said.

“Many parents told us that their children were more excited, looked forward to school on Fridays and frequently got ready more quickly than on other school days.

“This reinforces what we know from other studies, that a nutritious breakfast is a vital part of learning outcomes and overall wellbeing of school-aged children.”