'Without the breakfast club my daughter would probably still be at home with me'

School breakfast clubs have proved a lifeline for mum Rachel Perryman.

She took her daughter Eva, 10, out of her previous school, which had been a traumatic environment due to its strict behaviour policy.

Eva had been diagnosed with autism but small behaviours that are typical for neurodivergent children were treated very harshly by staff.

Rachel, 40, said: "They came down very hard on her, they were very, very strict and she is a very sensitive, gentle little girl and she just couldn't handle it.

"She was also in the cohort that was in Reception when Covid happened. So her first experiences of school have been traumatic.

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"We had some real difficulties and eventually it got to the point where she would scream and scream when I Ieft her at the school gate.

"I could still hear her screaming two roads away and it was just awful."

Rachel, a former secondary school teacher, decided to take Eva out of class for six months while they looked for a new school.

She moved to St Michael's Junior Church School, in Bath, where she began a gradual reintegration into school with close support from the staff.

Therapy from a local trauma recovery centre has also helped her to come back into school full time.

Rachel, who lives in a village outside Bath, said she would struggle to get her daughter and her son to different schools in the morning without breakfast club provision.

"Our breakfast club provision is absolutely vital to be able to juggle both my children," she said.

"The school that my son is in has been absolutely essential to his wellbeing. He struggled in school as well and it's been essential to his wellbeing.

"If we didn't access the breakfast club provision every morning, I wouldn't be able to get both my children into school and my daughter would probably still be at home with me."

It comes as the first 750 schools opened government-funded breakfast clubs on Tuesday as part of a nationwide scheme to offer free breakfasts in all primary schools, accessible to all children.

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