<
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-17/food-mental-health-children-schools/103690178>
'It's 8:30am and Julie Fahmy is busy preparing breakfast and lunches at a
kitchen bench — but not for her own children.
The learning and support officer at Ashcroft Public School in Western Sydney is
making meals for students who come to school without food.
"For breakfast today, we have Weet-Bix and we have Corn Flakes and then your
choice of jam or Vegemite on toast," Ms Fahmy tells them with a calm and kind
voice.
Sixty to 80 children have breakfast here on weekday mornings, and about 20
children are offered lunch.
The school has nearly 300 children from about 40 different ethnic backgrounds,
many from Middle Eastern and Pacific origins.
Almost 70 per cent of its children are from socio-economically disadvantaged
households.
School principal Kaliope Poppy Loueizi said she had seen an increase in
families struggling to send kids to school with lunches as the cost of living
had risen.
"We work in an area that does have some concentrated pockets of disadvantage,
and we know that our families are doing it tough at the moment," she said.
"We also know that it is really critical that kids have food, do not feel
hungry throughout the day.
"It has a huge impact on their learning and their behaviour."'
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
