BREAKFAST clubs could help close the attainment gap between children from richer and poorer backgrounds, councillors will be told this week.

In a report to Oxfordshire County Council’s education scrutiny committee, director of children’s services Jim Leivers said they would particularly benefit children from families who struggled to provide “a nutritious start to the day”.

He has recommended that councillors urge headteachers and school governors to consider introducing the clubs if they do not already run them.

It comes after Councillor Gill Sanders requested that officers investigate whether breakfast clubs could help improve pupil performance.

In response Mr Leivers wrote: “Common sense tells us that if children and young people are properly ‘fed and watered’, it will make a positive contribution to their health and wellbeing and that this may well, in turn, serve to improve such things as attendance, attention and behaviour and, ultimately, improve learning.

“Breakfast clubs have been a way of life in some schools for many years. The original motivation for many of them was driven as much by a social conscience as a desire for improved individual performance."

Mr Leivers said that of 61 school and academies looked at by officers, at least 23 ran breakfast clubs.

He added that research carried out by the National Foundation for Educational Research suggested the clubs had many benefits for those who attended them.

The research said children were able to concentrate more during the day and could reinforce healthy messages.

The report will be considered by the committee on Thursday at 10am.