By Ewen McRae
If breakfast is the most important meal of the day, Staughton College must have a lot of very happy students.
The Melton South school last week celebrated 10 years of its Breakfast Club, which runs two mornings a week and feeds up to 300 students a free breakfast.
The club is the brainchild of Michelle Mayhew, who founded the club while working with Scripture Union Victoria and looking for a way to help her local community.
“I went along to schools and asked them what needs they had – and Staughton said a breakfast club would be great,” she said.
“From there it was going around to local schools in Melton to get volunteers and then local businesses to help sponsor the program … it just sort of grew from there.
“It’s unbelievable to see how far it has come in 10 years – it’s now a vital part of the running of the school.”
Every Tuesday and Thursday, the club churns through 22 litres of milk, two kilograms of milo and up to 270 cheese toasties and more.
College student wellbeing manager Julie Halantas said being able to offer breakfast was often about more than just a free feed.
“If kids are hungry when they come to school they get tired and they don’t learn, so this is more than just putting something in their tummy,” Ms Halantas said.
“Sometimes there is no food at home, sometimes they just skip it, so to be able to offer this has been really important for the school.
“It’s also helped with social connections between students and teachers and helped build up our school community.”
