Friday 3 October 2008

Feed the world ... well p1 to p3 for a start

Free school meals for all children in primaries 1, 2 and 3. I can't describe how proud I am to be a member of the party that's introduced this policy to Scotland. It's particularly important when you consider cities like Glasgow have such a dreadful health record and such horrendously high levels of child poverty.

There are a number of reasons why this move is such an important one. For a start, it guarantees that regardless of what happens at home, these little people will have at least one healthy nutritious meal a day. Secondly, it takes away the stigma of being a "free ticket kid". And the evidence for that was clear in the findings of the pilot schemes - with an increase in the number of children who were already entitled to free meals actually taking them. If everyone else was doing it, they would not stand out from the crowd.

The policy of free school meals is anti poverty, anti obesity and pro health and I believe it will have a tremendous affect on our future generations. It's a policy the whole of Scotland should be proud of.

3 comments:

Miss Polly said...

Another Policy we should all be proud of is the promise of a teacher for every nursery child. My hope is that this will be the next promise to be honoured,through legislation if necessary, to prevent any further erosion of teachers from this vital sector.
Our little people deserve the very best on all fronts - we need to feed their minds and bodies.
Research evidence informed SNP Council of the impact a TEACHER can make to the quality of teaching and learning in this sector.
A free meal every day for Primary 1 to 3, AND daily access to a teacher for the under fives. Anything else will be a national disgrace!!

Humpty Dumpty said...

I hope so too Miss Polly. Let's hope no one else follow's Renfrewshire Council's disgraceful proposal of taking their already too few nursery teachers out of nursery schools and classes and spreading them thinly across ALL their council and private providers.
Otherwise nursery teachers will end up just like me and all the Kings horses and all the Kings men won't be able to put nursery teachers back into the system again.

Little Bo Peep said...

You are so right guys.
The SNP policy of a teacher for every nursery child is definitely one to be proud of.
As real nursery people we know how important it is that cities like Glasgow with horrendously high levels of child povery provide nursery education of the highest standard. Investment in high quality early years education can reduce the gaps in attainment that poverty and deprivation cause. High quality education means daily access to a nursery teacher.
I know how it felt when my sheep got lost and I didn't know where to find them.
I am so scared that all the teachers in the nursery sector will disappear.
We need to make sure they do not get lost as I am afraid they won't be able to find their way home and will be lost to us forever.