Breakfast programme boosts attendance at Victoria Primary

A school-based breakfast initiative spearheaded by the JN Circle Linstead Chapter is delivering tangible benefits for student attendance and well-being at Victoria Primary School, a rural institution on the outskirts of Linstead.

Launched last November, shortly after schools reopened following the passage of a hurricane, the programme grew out of conversations between members of the JN Circle and the school's administrators during Read Across Jamaica Day activities earlier in the academic year.

Principal Annette Steele said the results were evident almost immediately.

"Previously, we had children coming late or not coming at all because they hadn't eaten. Now they can come by 7:30 a.m. and get a hot meal, and that has really boosted our midweek attendance," she said.

Steele said that the breakfast menu typically includes fried dumplings, sausage, and a hot beverage, meals students now eagerly anticipate each week.

"We realised that sometimes we underestimate who is really in need," Steele added. "Even some children we thought were having breakfast actually weren't. The programme has been tremendous, and we are very grateful."

JN Circle Linstead Chapter President Godfrey Marshall said the concept took shape as the group sought a clearer picture of the school's most pressing needs.

"When we spoke about the student population, especially on certain days, it came out that one of the contributing factors to low turnout was a breakfast situation, where some children were not getting breakfast."

The issue was subsequently raised at the chapter's executive level, where members agreed to intervene by funding an additional breakfast day to supplement existing government support.

"We all bought into the idea as an executive body, reached out for sponsorship and decided to move forward with the programme," Marshall said.

Victoria Primary School, which serves about 250 students from grades one to six, has been a fixture in the community since 1935 and continues to record strong academic and cultural achievements despite its rural location.