28 September 2022

KickStart Breakfast School Stories - St Joseph's School (Hastings)

As part of our celebrations for our 50 Millionth Breakfast being served - we connected with St Joseph's Primary to hear more about how the programme has impacted them & their school community.

Caretaker John Hunt is a passionate volunteer for the club, and is at school each morning ready to serve & run their KickStart Breakfast Club. It's volunteers like John who are the backbone of the programme, and we're always so grateful for their mahi (work).

John says 'Our St Joseph’s School Breakfast Club has been a part of the KickStart Programme since Term 2 of 2020. We joined it because we knew that some students were coming to school without having breakfast.

We wanted them to start their day with some food in their tummy and hopefully this would also help them with their learning in the classroom.

KickStart Breakfast Club has allowed a warm, welcoming environment to blossom in which any student feels welcome to join in and share in a nutritious experience to Kickstart their day. We look forward to continuing the promotion of breakfast in tummies at St Joseph’s School.

Great outcomes

We have noticed several things as a result of students attending KickStart Breakfasts:

Friendships are created and they develop across the year groups. Seniors and Juniors and indeed the adults learning each other’s names and growing a positive rapport.
Tuakana-Teina relationships - Senior students stepping in and guiding and helping the juniors if they are new to the club, or if they spill drinks or food.
Some individuals are more settled in their learning and they are more biddable in the morning.
Seeing students feeling satisfied with kai in their puku.
Volunteers-many students offer to help with setting up the furniture before and packing it away afterwards. Some students like to eat their breakfast then help serve others. Still others volunteer their help with the dishes and packing away the utensils.
Students have developed routines with the adults running the club, with how they enter, eat and leave the venue.
The hall venue and the sound system in the hall allows Mr Hunt to play music including dance music for the students to listen to and dance to, if they choose. Sometimes it has a festive atmosphere.

What the students have to say

Students attend the KickStart Breakfast Club for a variety of reasons aside from the provision of food. Here's what some of their Breakfast Club attendees have to say:

I love how you give us food so we can have energy for the day. I can talk with my friends and make new friends. If we’re hungry we can come to breakfast club so we don’t think about eating while we’re studying. From Jonathan

I go to Breakfast Club because of the warmth in there. I like to dry the dishes and mop the floor when it is dirty. I also go to Breakfast Club to see new people and meet my friends. From Atasha

What I love about Breakfast Club is you can just go have a chat with your friends and if you’re feeling cold you go to Breakfast Club and get warm and fuel up ready to start the day. I want to thank you KickStart. From Jasman

A big thanks to Mr John Hunt and the team at St Joseph's School in Hastings for sharing this story with us!