Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:03 pm on 15 May 2019.
Well, it is clear to me, and it is clear to Estyn, that this is indeed an issue that they should be reporting on—how a school ensures that healthy food and drink are available to the children in school. And, as I said, I'm very disappointed that any school would restrict access to free drinking water for children. It is quite clear in the Measure and, as I said, on 13 March of this year, via the Dysg newsletter, we reminded all LEAs and all schools of their legal responsibilities in this regard.
Now, revising the regulations is one action to ensure a positive impact on children's well-being, attainment and behaviour. Recent reports, such as 'A Charter for Change' by the Children's Commissioner for Wales, and the recently published children's future food inquiry, have flagged issues ranging from holiday hunger, which Mike spoke about, to school meal debt, which I know has been a concern for the Member Joyce Watson, and non-take-up by those who are entitled to a free school meal. These are factors around poverty that have a significant impact on our children's happiness and their well-being.
Members will be aware that we have taken a number of actions to remove worries associated with some of these issues, whether that's thinking about how children's well-being can be prioritised or helping remove worries associated with some of the costs of the school day. Schools also play a vital role in promoting positive behaviours. The new school curriculum will support learners to develop an understanding of the contributory factors involved in achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight, particularly the impact of food and nutrition on health and well-being, and the skills to adopt healthy behaviours. Exploring these subject areas within the curriculum, facilitating new experiences and developing new skills in the process, will contribute to the whole-school approach and to learners' lifelong attitudes, I hope, to food and food consumption.
There are also a number of programmes within Welsh schools that could be strengthened and aligned to provide additional support for this agenda. The Welsh network of healthy school schemes, a national programme operating within the majority of Welsh schools, seeks holistically to promote health, both physical and mental, and programmes like eco-schools have the potential to inspire children to value the environment, understand the benefits of being outside, encourages food growing within the school campus, as well as wider issues around plastic and food security and the impact of food production on our sustainability agenda.
Lest we forget, Wales pioneered the way in a number of areas that have benefited our children. We led the way in the UK with the introduction of our free breakfast in primary initiative in 2004. And I admit I was a sceptic at the time, but the evidence and the research on the impact of that policy is clear: it makes a real difference to the educational attainment of those children. In its fifteenth year, the scheme is integral to our wider work to improve food and nutrition in maintained schools. Since 2017, we have funded the school holiday enrichment programme, and since then we have provided £1 million support to SHEP, making available nearly 4,000 places in SHEP schemes across Wales. And, in this financial year, we are making available up to £900,000 to further roll out SHEP, enabling local authorities and partners to support even more families this summer.
The well-being of our children, Deputy Presiding Officer, in conclusion, must be at the heart of our inclusive education system, and promoting and encouraging good eating habits while in school and, hopefully, taking those habits home is a shared responsibility between schools and families. Encouraging children to develop good eating habits will stay with them throughout their lives and help them develop into the happy, confident and healthy individuals all of us would want to see.