STARTING the day the right way, is the message of Breakfast Week which takes place between January 25 – 31.

Run on behalf of UK cereal farmers and producers, this annual campaign encourages schools across the country to organise events and activities to educate pupils about the benefits of eating a healthy, balanced breakfast.

Whether it’s by inviting a local farmer, chef, butcher or baker to come in to talk to the children about how foods are produced, or working with pupils to get them cooking and tasting different breakfast dishes for themselves, there are many different ways schools can get involved with Breakfast Week.

HGCA is also providing a range of free resources for schools and teachers to help with their Breakfast Week events.

Karen Levy, HGCA campaign manager said: “Research shows that despite the number of breakfast clubs being on the rise, one in seven children are still going to school hungry.

“Breakfast is an important part of a healthy, balanced diet whatever your age, so it is important that we encourage pupils to develop healthy eating habits in the morning.

“Each year, events during Breakfast Week help thousands of pupils discover more about the most important meal of the day, in a variety of fun and informative ways.

“We hope that as many schools as possible take part in 2015 as there really is no better occasion to talk breakfast than in the classroom.”

As well as schools, many educational organisations get involved with Breakfast Week to help spread the message.

One such organisation, the Royal Highland Education Trust (RHET) has been supporting Breakfast Week activities for a decade now.

Katrina Barclay, RHET education manager, said: “Breakfast is a great starting point for engaging pupils about food and farming. We can tie in the classroom element with a farm visit so the pupils can see for themselves the work that is involved in growing.”