Headteachers from across England have shared that schools are providing showers for pupils, washing uniforms, and finding beds as child poverty continues to spiral out of control. They are also trying to mitigate exhaustion and hunger among students. The poverty is driving problems with behavior, persistent absence, and mental health.
One headteacher described the desperate situation of a child who needed to be put in the shower a couple of times a week due to the family’s inability to afford cleaning products. The school also washed uniforms for children whose families didn’t have a washing machine.
The lack of sleep has become a significant symptom of poverty and a barrier to learning. Many children are living in desperate neglect, sleeping on sofas, in homes with smashed windows, no curtains, or mice. Schools are now the frontline of the battle against child poverty and are at risk of being overwhelmed.
The report called on the government to increase funding to help schools support the more than 4 million children now living in poverty in the UK. The government has dismantled public services over the past decade, and schools are the last people standing. They need proper support to tackle child poverty.
Katrina Morley, chief executive of Tees Valley Education trust, which runs four primary academies and one special school, all with exceptionally high numbers of children on free school meals, described sleep as “a real issue”. “We have children without beds or they might have to share with siblings,” she…
2024-03-16 07:20:04
Original from www.theguardian.com