When it comes to learning, schools know one thing; there's no point in even trying to teach a child if their stomach is empty.
That’s one reason why the state’s School Meals Programme is so important.These days schools serving struggling communities say there’s no point in talking about things like remote learning until access to food for children at home is addressed.
Around 250,000 children get free school meals at school every day. For some it’s a sandwich and a piece of fruit, for a growing minority it’s a hot meal. "A lot of our families their children would be getting breakfast, a hot dinner, and a snack later on in the afternoon", one Dublin school primary school principal tells me. "I probably shouldn’t be saying this", she adds,