I was really pleased to officially open one of England’s first new government-funded breakfast clubs this morning at St John’s Primary and Nursery School in the city centre.

St John’s Primary and Nursery School was one of 750 schools in England chosen to run a breakfast club as an ‘early adopter’ as part of a government-funded trial that will run to July, ahead of an expected national rollout.

I’m really pleased that one of these new free breakfast clubs has opened right here in Southampton. Even though it was the first day back after the holidays, the children were excited to be there and really enjoyed their breakfast. These clubs will help make sure children are ready to learn and help parents with childcare and getting to work, and I’m looking forward to seeing more opening in Southampton after the trial period ends.

Starting today, the club at St John’s Primary and Nursery School will provide parents and carers with 30 minutes of free childcare. These new free breakfast clubs will save parents up to £450 a year and come alongside a raft of measures to provide parents with greater choice and help with the cost of living, such as a cap on school uniform costs and expanding free childcare for under-fives to 30 hours per week.

29 pupils attended the breakfast club opening this morning and enjoyed a selection of toast, preserves, cereals and fresh fruit. It’s great that the club at St John’s Primary and Nursery School, in common with the other clubs opening this week across the country, is free for parents and carers. What’s more, to give parents and carers maximum flexibility, they do not have to book – they can just turn up.

Kirsten Buist, Headteacher at St John’s Primary and Nursery School, told me: “Parents and carers have told us that this new breakfast club will help them at the start of the working day. It was great to welcome so many pupils to the breakfast club this morning and we expect more to join us in the coming weeks as word gets around. I’d like to thank all the staff at the school who worked hard over the last few weeks, including over the holidays, to ensure that we were able to open successfully this morning.”