Wednesday, 9 March 2022

 Mr ERDOGAN (Southern Metropolitan) (09:55): I rise to highlight the success of four school breakfast club programs operating in the Southern Metropolitan Region. In the district of Sandringham alone Beaumaris Secondary College, Sandringham College, Mentone Girls Secondary College and Mentone Primary School all have successful school breakfast clubs and have now delivered more than 24 913 meals to local students. The school breakfast club program has been a resounding success since its establishment in 2016 as part of our Labor government’s $58 million investment to provide free, healthy food to students at 1000 government schools. Twenty million nutritious meals have been delivered to students across the state, helping to ensure students do not need to try and learn on an empty stomach. The program continued to provide meals to students during periods of remote learning. A school breakfast club helps make sure students are healthier and happier, leads to improved student engagement and concentration, strengthens staff-student relationships, enhances social skills and results in better academic performance. The success of the school breakfast club program is a win for students, schools and families. I thank everyone who has helped deliver these much-needed meals to enable students in my electorate to focus on learning. This is yet another initiative of this government to make a fairer Victoria.