The Know Daily - Wednesday 26 February 2025

_{Read in 4m 39s ∙ Listening to Joy Crookes ∙}

Westfield London — Europe’s largest shopping and leisure destination — has opened a new permanent sensory room to improve inclusivity. It provides a calming environment with soothing lighting, interactive projectors and tactile furnishings for children and adults, and is part of their growing accessibility initiatives.

🍎 Breakfast clubs

A new pilot scheme will provide free daily breakfasts for schoolchildren across England. 

Tell me more.
From April, 750 schools will take part in free breakfast clubs – a government initiative in which schools will host 30-minute sessions before classes where pupils can access “healthy, nutritious and varied” meals. The programme is set to “ have a transformative impact by feeding hungry tummies and fuelling hungry minds, so every child begins the day ready to learn,” said education secretary Bridget Phillipson. Plus, over a third of the participating schools are located in underserved areas. The pilot scheme is expected to run until July, and will help the planning of a national expansion as soon as possible.

What’s the reaction been?
Charity Family Action has praised the announcement, saying it’s a crucial test that’ll inform a national roll-out of the “exciting universal breakfast policy”. The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) has also welcomed the news, but has voiced that funding could be inadequate, with only 60p available per student for the pilot run. These concerns must be addressed before the project goes nationwide so as to not “place further pressure on already strained school budgets”, said a spokesperson from NAHT. 

Anything else I should know?
Schools need flexibility in free meals programmes, not just formal “breakfast clubs”, said a representative from charity Magic Breakfast. Other options include grab-and-go schemes and classroom-based meals. By catering to different schools’ facilities and staffing levels, the program is much more feasible and can even reduce costs by up to 75% per student, compared to clubs alone, the representative added.

Thank you to our wonderful readers who have helped us donate over 2,000 nutritious breakfasts for children in need in the UK through our partnership with charity Magic Breakfast. We donate a meal for each reader who refers 3 friends - here’s your personalised signup link to send to friends if you’d like to help.

📱 Targeting theft: A new “major legislation” seeks to address the rise of stolen phones and bags.

• The bigger story: The bill would give police the power to enter a property without a warrant to search for stolen phones and laptops – this means they’d be able to act quicker to recover items. However, there are concerns around if the police have enough funding to carry this out. For now, here are some helpful tips to protect your devices.  

📚 Fascinating fiction: The International Booker Prize longlist is out.

🚘 Zero emissions switch: The UK government has pledged £120m to make it easier for drivers and businesses to swap over to electric vehicles.

🎶 Festival fraud: Fyre Festival 2 is on its way despite issues with the first luxury music festival – here’s what we know so far.

🚢 Manmade reef: This ship is set to be sunk to create the world’s largest artificial reef to enhance biodiversity.

📷 Impactful images: The 2025 Sony World Photography Awards finalists have been revealed – and the photos are stunning.

☕ Cup of joe: These are the best coffee shops in the world – see any of your faves?

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Trivia answer: C) Switzerland’s Zürich HB topped the list – see which other stations made the cut here. 

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