School sees grades improve – could it be the breakfast boost?
By Sam Strangeways
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Photo by Mark Tatem
Eight-year-old Solé Tucker a primary four student at Victor Scott School shows off her favourite cereal. Kids at Victor Scott have been getting breakfast at school from the Coalition for the Protection of Children for the past year and their exam results have vastly improved.
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Is breakfast the most important meal of the day? Students at Victor Scott Primary School certainly think so — their exam results have vastly improved after a year of eating regular morning meals.
The youngsters have been receiving breakfast each week day, courtesy of the Coalition for the Protection of Children, since September 2007.
Principal Dr. Gina Tucker believes the nutritional start to the day is just one of the many reasons the 75-year-old Pembroke school is seeing a dramatic rise in achievement levels.
"There was significant growth by a significant number of students in this year's Terra Nova tests compared to last year," said Dr. Tucker, adding that it was thanks to a raft of initiatives at the school and the hard work and dedication of all staff.
"When programmes are implemented effectively then you see the kind of results we are looking for. Initiatives like the breakfast programme can only be a good thing.
"It's impossible to make a direct and exact correlation but I think the breakfast programme really helped create a sense of community for our students, a welcoming and embracing beginning to the day."
This year 29 of the 59 children in primary four, five and six sitting the Terra Nova tests achieved an improvement in their performance compared to 2007 and Dr. Tucker said such growth needed to be celebrated.
"How far did they come from last year? How far did they move in a year? That's the discussion we really need to be having to show that children are growing in our schools."
Individually, some pupils made unheard-of leaps — improving their test scores in reading, language and mathematics by more than 11 percentile points, with many improving by 20, 30, even 50-plus points.
And the average scores for maths in primary three, five and six were above the average for the Island.
Research has found that eating breakfast has an effect on children's energy levels and ability to study — but reports of youngsters across Bermuda arriving at school unfed have long been a concern.
All of Victor Scott's 130 pupils are now able to get fruit juice, cereal, yogurt and other healthy produce from 8 a.m. at the school on Glebe Road, regardless of their home situation.
Sheelagh Cooper, from the Coalition, said: "The bottom line is that hungry children can't learn.
"I definitely do not want to assume that the across-the-board increase in scores is entirely the result of our breakfast programme.
"That clearly is the outcome of a lot of effort by some very good teachers and a wonderful principal who has a very positive attitude and a great school climate. We are just one of many who have made this such a successful year."
Ms Cooper said the Coalition was grateful to Dunkley's Dairy for supplying all the milk and juice and that the charity was now planning to extend the scheme to other primary schools.
"I had for years tried to prompt Government to do this," she said. "We have given up on Government to a large extent and that's OK — Government can't be expected to do everything."
