English schools lagging behind Wales with uptake in milk schemes

Research finds that the impact of the pandemic continues to have a negative impact in England's schools and nurseries
Research finds that the impact of the pandemic continues to have a negative impact in England's schools and nurseries

Schools in England have been encouraged to restart their free and subsidised milk schemes, as new research shows it is lagging behind Wales in providing schoolchildren with milk.

The findings come as part of World School Milk Day 2022 (28 September) which aims to promote the benefits of providing primary schoolchildren with milk.

Research by the School and Nursery Milk Alliance (SNMA) says that as an average per population, Wales provides 38 portions of milk per primary school-age child per year.

However, England lags behind with an average of just 13 portions of milk provided per primary school-age child per year.

The SNMA warned that 'far too many' primary schoolchildren in England were missing out on milk.

The body said Wales’s success in providing the most portions of milk for primary school-age children was 'not surprising'.

"Wales is unique amongst UK nations in providing free milk for all children in Key Stage One, rather than just subsidising it," the alliance noted.

"Wales also leads the way on providing free milk to nursery-age children with an average of 58 portions of milk provided per child aged 0-4 in education settings or nurseries per year, narrowly ahead of England with an average of 56 portions."

But the research by the SNMA shows that the overall uptake of free and subsidised milk schemes is significantly lower than before the pandemic.

This reflects the impact of the pandemic, with many schools and nurseries temporarily opting out of the scheme during the worst of the lockdowns.

But many schools and nurseries are yet to restart their milk schemes, meaning that many children are missing out.

School food standards require lower fat milk or lactose reduced milk to be available to drink at least once a day during school hours.

The SNMA said 'far too many' schools and nurseries were unaware of the different available programmes that could be giving their pupils free healthy milk.

To assist with the cost of providing milk, schools can take part in the Nursery Milk Scheme, led by the Department of Health and Social Care, providing free milk to children under the age of 5.

And the School Milk Subsidy Scheme, managed and topped up by Defra, provides subsidised milk for all pupils children between five and 11 years old attending Ofsted-registered schools.

Jon Thornes, chair of SNMA, said: "We urge all UK nations to follow Wales’s positive example and do more to ensure that as many children as possible receive milk at school.

“This is particularly important in light of the concerning news that the pandemic continues to cast a long shadow with far too many schools and nurseries yet to re-start their pupils on the various available programmes.

"This needs to change to ensure that as many children as possible are able to drink healthy milk at school or nursery”.