Everyday Local Heroes - Rachael & Sean

After only five weeks running its KickStart Breakfast club, kids at Parakai School, just north of Auckland are reaping the benefits, Principal Sean Valvoi says.

‘We have noticed that those children who are having breakfast at school, and may have missed out on the opportunity at home, are much more settled and focused in class and have more energy to get them through the day,’ he says.

Up to 25 children at a time eat a hearty bowl of Weet-Bix and Anchor milk at the twice weekly breakfast club and Sean says he’s grateful that the school is able to offer them a meal so easily.

‘We were having children coming to school and asking us if we could make them something to eat. We would always make them something, but for every child who has the confidence to come up and ask there are others who don’t and KickStart Breakfast removes that barrier for them.’

‘I really thought the kids could benefit from having something like a breakfast club at the school so they could have a really positive start to their day.’ Rachael Tamatahi-Davies, Parakai School Breakfast Club Coordinator.

Parent Rachael Tamatahi-Davies has been the driving force in setting the programme up. The mother of three began noticing that some of pupils were arriving in the mornings looking hungry and tired so she decided that something needed to be done.

Having heard about the benefits of the KickStart Breakfast programme, and with Sean’s permission, Rachael went online and looked up the KickStart Breakfast website.

‘The joining process couldn’t have been easier. We just went online and filled out the forms,’ she says. ‘Everything has happened really quickly and it has been simple to organise.’ With the help of a teacher aide and another volunteer, Rachael runs the programme every Monday and Wednesday morning at the small decile three school.

By offering pupils breakfast twice a week at school, it is hoped a pattern will be formed and replicated at home, leading to an improvement to the overall health of the children’s family. The KickStart Breakfast programme has been designed to work as a partnership between Fonterra, Sanitarium and the school community.

By focusing on supplying the food for the programme rather than the logistics of staffing it, more schools have been able to enrol. Now almost 50 per cent of the eligible decile one to four schools have KickStart Breakfast on board and it is hoped more will follow suit.