Union says schools overwhelmed by funding cuts and increasing child poverty. Teachers have warned that growing levels of poverty across England are having a devastating effect on pupils, with more children going hungry and being unable to afford warm clothes this winter. The findings from the National Education Union paint a harrowing picture of day-to-day poverty in schools. Teachers say that a lack of food, poor housing and unsuitable clothes are overwhelming pupils and cash-strapped schools. Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the union, described “a Dickensian picture” of poverty: “The government is out of touch with the distressing new reality of children’s daily lives: with what it means to live without enough money for basics such as food, shoes and adequate clothing. “[It] has failed to recognise the human cost of its cuts to schools and other children’s services and to the social security system, and its failure to address the in-work poverty faced by one in five workers.” Schools have been hard hit by per-pupil funding cuts implemented by central government. Three out of 10 maintained secondary schools now have budget deficits of nearly £500,000. Read more.
You may also like
National Deprivation of Liberty Court to deal with child cases
A national Deprivation of Liberty Court will deal with all new cases involving children, it has been announced. The new court, announced by Sir Andrew McFarlane, president of the Family Division, will launch on 4 July...
June 24, 2022
More than 1,000 children in care moved from their placement every week, research warns
Charities are warning that more than 1,000 looked-after children are moved on from their placement every week. Between 2018 and 2021 there were 220,210 changes to care placements, the equivalent of 1,059 changes each...
June 23, 2022
Expand free school meals eligibility ‘to reduce stigma’, DfE urged
Widening eligibility for free school meals could not only reduce the number of children facing food insecurity but remove the stigma felt by those who do receive them, researchers have said. A study by York University...
June 21, 2022