Coupar Angus PS Parent Council would love the opportunity to provide each pupil with a piece of toast when they come into school in the morning.  Research has shown that eating breakfast is important for everyone, but especially for children.  In general, kids who skip breakfast will feel tired, restless and irritable. Eating a healthy breakfast has been shown to help attention span, concentration and memory - all very important for learning.

Senior pupils carried out a breakfast survey, the majority of pupils surveyed said they do have breakfast most days, however 6% said they don’t have breakfast before school.  Pupils said when they don’t have breakfast in the morning they come into school feeling hungry, tired, unhappy, sad & angry.  86% of pupils surveyed said they would like to be offered toast when they first come into school.   

P7 teacher Mrs Gourlay believes offering each child something to eat in the morning will improve learning & behaviour within the classroom.

Around 20% of pupils at Coupar Angus PS are classed as living within relative poverty – we want to do anything we can to help these pupils by offering warm toast as they come into school.  Giving every child the best start in life is the first of five strategic priorities adopted by Perth & Kinross Council and we believe providing breakfast will give them a good start to their day.

Coupar Angus PS currently runs a breakfast club from 8am however this is chargeable at £2 per day which could potentially exclude some families.  Toast For All will be free for every pupil.

We plan to run Toast For All initially on a Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday and if it’s as big as a success as we think it will be we hope to roll it out to 5 days per week.  We plan to start on the first day of term after the Easter holidays on Wednesday 23rd April and run until the Easter holidays in 2026.  The teachers will monitor improvements in learning/behaviour and we will do more surveys with the children to gauge their opinions on the project.

A rota will be drawn up for each week and a teacher/volunteer will arrive at 8.45am and prepare the toast.  It will be put on lidded trays to keep it warm and senior pupils will take it around all classes at 9.05am and offer it to every pupil.

We believe every child should have something warm to fill their tummy in the mornings and we hope this will improve behaviour, attention spans and willingness to learn.

2025 will be our fourth year running our Back to School Pack. In 2021 we provided 152 packs, in 2022 - 340, in 2023 - 400, and in 2024 we provided 512 Back to School Packs and 91 Back to Nursery Packs (our first year running this service). Our Packs are available to anyone who lives in these wards.

What is in a Back to School Pack? 

Our packs include 3 shirts, 2 bottoms, 2 jumpers/cardis, 2 PE t shirts, 2 PE bottoms, a PE jumper and a school bag. We also aim to include school shoes and/or trainers plus stationary and other back to school essentials like pack lunch boxes or pencil cases. Everything a child needs for taking part in their school journey. 

What is in a Back to Nursery Pack?

Our Back to Nursery packs include 5 days of mix and match outfits; 5 jumpers, 5 t-shirts, 5 bottoms, messy play clothing, a seasonal jacket and footwear. We also add in extras such as sun hats, vests and socks as we know children need these items to fully participate in their learning and no one comes home clean after one day in nursery!

Packs are personalised to each schools colours and the child’s style preferences (so you can tell us if they won’t wear shorts, or will only wear cardigans!) and their sensory needs to make sure the packs are made to suit the individual. We also ask for bag colours and characters and try our hardest to match up to their personal style. We believe our service should make the child feel confident and comfortable that they match their peers. 

SO IF YOU THINK THAT...

- All children should have access to high quality school uniform?

- We should protect our environment and make positive pre-loved clothing choices? 

- By making little changes to our own lifestyle to support others we can make big changes for the future of our children?

Then please support us by voting for our Back to School & Nursery Pack project.  Thank you.

Team Social Flock

Letham4All SCIO has been working with a variety of partners across Perth and Kinross at a very local community level, a dignified and holistic route to reduce the impact of poverty.  As a result of this work, Letham4All has successfully piloted the use of the Pay Point Platform and extended to scope of Perth Cards, to provide small amounts of financial support, to help people in immediate financial crisis. Working with existing referral routes this project will provide an additional route for support for those who are not successful with a crisis grant or where a crisis grant is not an appropriate option. The Paypoint Platform enables the sending of utility voucher codes by text message to a mobile phone that can be redeemed in the usual place people top up their utility cards/keys and the Perth Cards across Perth and Kinross can be used in a variety of shops to purchase food and utilities.

This referral-based support has been accessed by a range of public agencies and 3rd sector organisations who have had no other means of supporting people with financial support to offer a breathing space while longer-term solutions are set up. This has been particularly effective out with traditional working hours and at weekends and support can be organised and delivered within an hour.  We know from feedback from agencies that being able to offer this quick solution to those most in need is very beneficial to the household, encourages further discussion of longer-term solutions to prevent further crises, and reduces stress and worry. Partners have also told us that being able to use the Pay Point Platform as a means of offering support saves valuable staff time in handling and delivering cash payments for utility tops-ups and is a much faster way of getting support to their clients.  To deliver this project Letham4All and its partners use the Citizen Advice Bureau’s information-sharing protocol, The Fast Online Referral Tracking System, FORT. This system enables all partners to see what referrals and support services have been received by a service user eliminating the risk of duplication, and giving support services a clear picture of services received and of any gaps emerging in meeting the needs of the person.