Teachers are dipping into their own pockets to help a rising number of students who are coming to class cold and hungry.
Nearly a third of primary school teachers said more children are showing up hungry, according to a survey by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) charity.
Roughly 40% have seen a rise in the number of students coming to school without appropriate clothing like proper uniforms or a winter coat.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), which represents teachers, said this ‘says everything we need to know about the impact that child poverty and the cost-of-living crisis is having on children and young people.
He added: ‘This daily struggle against hunger and worries about family finances seriously affects children’s ability to concentrate and learn during the school day.’
Just last month it was reported that more children than ever are relying on foodbank parcels, with more than a million distributed in a record-breaking year.
This has led to nearly one in five primary school teachers spending their own money to buy food and clothes for their students, the report found.
Some 79% of primary school teachers, and 62% of those in secondary schools, spend their own money buying items like stationary for the school and pupils.
The report’s findings reflect widespread cuts to spending on resources and targeted learning support in schools left with gaps in their budgets.
One 10% of senior leaders said that had made no cuts to provision this year due to cost pressures.
The online survey assessed the views of 884 teachers and 398 senior leaders in mainstream state primary and secondary schools in England this March.
Jude Hillary, the NFER’s co-head of UK policy and practice, warned that this ‘high level of need’ could become ‘an entrenched and persistent challenge’.
He said: ‘The cost of living is one of a number of significant cost pressures leading to schools having to make incredibly difficult trade-offs in their core provision – including staffing, teaching and learning.
‘Teachers are going above and beyond to meet pupils’ pastoral needs using their personal funds.
‘This unrecognised, informal support is being offered at a time when teachers individually continue to face their own financial pressures.’
To tackle the growing problem of hungry school kids, the NFER is calling for an extension of eligibility for free school meals.
Already, the number of children receiving free school meals has doubled to one-third of students since 2010.
Free school meals were extended to all primary school children in London for a year when Mayor Sadiq Khan announced a one-off £130million scheme in February 2023.
The NFER is also calling for targeted funding to help schools improve student wellbeing.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “It’s deeply troubling that significant numbers of young children are arriving at school without the basic necessities anybody would require to be in a fit state to learn.
‘The fact that so many teachers are spending their own money on supporting pupils’ pastoral needs is particularly revealing.
‘It perfectly encapsulates an education workforce going above and beyond despite the increasing number of societal problems they are being forced to deal with, seemingly on their own.
‘Politicians cannot just sit back and rely on the goodwill and finances of teachers and school leaders to stop children from going hungry.’
A Conservative Party spokesperson said: ‘We are determined to give every child, regardless of their background, the very best start in life, which is why we are committed to giving free school meals to those children who need it.
‘Under the Conservatives, free school meals have been extended to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century – doubling the number of children receiving free school meals since 2010 from one-sixth to one-third.
‘Our plan to set children up for a brighter future is working as we continue to climb up international education rankings and boost school funding to the highest ever level in real terms.’
The Conservative government was forced to extend free school meal provision during the Christmas holidays after a campaign by Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford in 2020.
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