The little school with a big heart that's feeding more than minds
"We don't educate our children to leave their community. We educate our children to enhance the community they live in."
Broken Cross Head, Donna and the school dogs, Bob and friend.
Tucked away in leafy Cheshire sits Broken Cross Primary Academy, a little school doing some seriously big work, with Headteacher (and superhero!) Donna leading a quiet revolution in how schools support struggling families.
Despite being nestled among affluent footballer territories like Alderley Edge and Prestbury, nearly half of the pupils qualify for free school meals. That's 49%, compared to a national average of 24.6%.
Donna and her team are only too aware that food insecurity doesn't come alone. It’s saddled alongside fuel poverty, poor nutrition, and stress that makes it even harder for kids to learn, laugh and grow. And because of this, her school has become so much more than just a place for education. Donna and her team have embedded supportive safety net within the school that includes free breakfast clubs and stashed supermarket vouchers on hand for those in crisis.
“We’ve seen children not coming to school and when we’ve phoned families to ask why, it's because they couldn't put the heating on so there's been no hot water for a bath. Send them in, we don't mind. Or that they couldn't wash clothes, bring your laundry and we'll put it through the washing machine down in nursery.”
But here's the really clever bit. Donna has normalised asking for help. She’s built a culture where nobody needs to feel embarrassed about needing a little extra. A huge part of this is down to the school's partnership with us and our weekly hubs that bring healthy, affordable, food straight through the school gates. The year 6 pupils even help with the bag packing, a responsibility that they take very seriously.
This approach is working. Families who might never have thought of asking for help before are finding support without the stigma. And Donna and her team make sure its as accessible as possible, even for working parents.
Donna explains, “It starts to break down those barriers and it de-stigmatises what's happening, because that would be the purpose for us constantly. And I think what's been lovely, we've seen the impact on our families, because what we will do obviously it runs during the working day, but if you're a part of a working family that's not going to work for you is our families can send the money in and we will hold the shopping for them. So that means that we're seeing families, that the working families are getting access to the food.
The Broken Cross staff are also well versed on a less obvious part of food insecurity: nutrition. It's easy to assume kids are okay if they don’t look hungry, but when diets are full of processed, calorie-heavy foods, there’s a hidden hunger for real nutrients. Donna talks about the quality of calories, not just the quantity.
“It's an absolute indicator of it. It is about it's packed full of calories but it's completely lacking in nutrition. Anecdotally, but we've just had a change of suppliers for our kitchen, for our catering, and we've seen an increase in the quality of the food, and even that, as a head teacher, I monitor the quality of the food that's coming out of there Because, again, I need to ensure that that's of a good enough quality and that there's enough of a range of salads and fruit and vegetables for the children to have.”
At the end of the day, what really sticks with you is how Donna sees her role, not just filling heads with facts, but weaving her school tightly into the fabric of the community. "We don’t educate our children to leave their community. We educate them to enhance the community they live in."
Listen to Donna’s podcast right here.
A massive thank you to Donna for everything that Broken Cross do for us, the school and community. If you’d like to share yours, we’d love to hear from you. Pop us an email and we’ll be in touch.
