‘Heartbreak’ of children who go hungry during school holidays
THE number of children who go hungry in school holidays has increased to “heartbreaking” levels, teachers have warned.
More than half of primary school workers surveyed by the National Union of Teachers said pupils were affected by “holiday hunger” when they did not get a free school lunch.
Eighty per cent of those reporting the problem said the numbers affected had risen in the past two years.
A similar proportion said children were arriving at school hungry and 37 per cent that pupils were malnourished at the start of term.
A large majority said education and wellbeing suffered, the NUT annual conference in Cardiff heard.
Terrible
The union’s general secretary Kevin Courtney said: “These heartbreaking findings lay bare the terrible impact of poverty on the lives and educational experiences of many children.
“This should not be tolerated at all, let alone in the sixth richest economy in the world.
“Teachers are working hard to achieve the best outcomes for their pupils but the challenges they face as a result of poverty are increasing under this Government.”
He urged it to adopt a “serious” poverty reduction strategy, including free school meals for all primary children and action over holiday hunger.
All children up to about age seven get free school lunches. Thereafter entitlement depends on family income and about 15 per cent get free meals.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has backed extending free meals to all primary school pupils in England, funded by VAT on private school fees.
Half a million families learn tomorrow which primary school their child will attend from September.
Separate analysis from the charity Teach First found poor children are half as likely to go to a primary school rated outstanding by Ofsted inspectors as those from richer homes.
They were also much more likely to attend under-performing schools.
Teach First chief executive Brett Wigdortz, said: “As outstanding schools are unfairly concentrated in richer communities, poorer families are finding themselves priced out.”
Last year, 88.4 per cent of youngsters got into their first choice school.
The Department for Education said: “There are 1.8 million more children in good or outstanding schools than 2010 and we have created almost 735,000 extra places since 2010.”