(Picture: PA Wire)
The number of children arriving at school hungry has risen dramatically in the last six months, with many teachers reporting a worrying rise in pupils stealing to eat, according to a survey of teachers in England.
More than 80 per cent of teachers reported that in their schools, the number of children entering the gates hungry has shot up in the last six months — with disastrous consequences. The Survation study on behalf of Chefs in Schools revealed that teachers say that 88 per cent of children who come in hungry show excessive tiredness at school, with 84 per cent easily distracted in class and 74 per cent exhibiting disruptive behaviour.
It comes as the Food Foundation report a 50 per cent rise in food insecurity in households with children since April affecting four million pupils, and bringing into focus the urgent need for these children to receive a school lunch. About 85 per cent of teachers in the Survation survey say that pupils ineligible for free school meals would benefit from receiving them.
It also highlights the appeal by the coalition of campaigning organisations, led by the Food Foundation and including Chefs in Schools, calling on the Prime Minister to extend free school meals to all children in poverty in England. There are 800,000 pupils in England whose parents receive universal credit but miss out on free school meals because the after-tax household earnings (excluding benefits) exceeds the risible threshold of £7,400 a year.
Headteachers and school chefs said the situation facing pupils was “heart-breaking”, with many teachers also recounting incidents of children stealing food “due to hunger and poverty”.
Last week, an investigation by the Evening Standard and The Independent found that some pupils are stealing food from local supermarkets and the school canteen to stave off hunger.
One teacher told Survation: “Children are taking food from other children’s lunch boxes.” Another added: “Children are stealing snacks from other children because they’re hungry and it’s not fair that they are then tarnished as a thief by other children when their basic needs should be met.” Yet another said: “Children are stealing food from kitchens and fridges in school” and “some children are pinching food from others’ lunchboxes”.
Lisa Williams, headteacher at Rushey Green Primary School in Lewisham, said: “I have never known anything like this and it is getting worse. Children are coming to school hungry. They can’t concentrate. With packed lunches, some children have bread with no filling or just a slice of bread. As we get towards the end of the month and the money runs out at home, it often gets worse. It’s heartbreaking.”
Luke Kemsley, head chef at Rushey Green Primary, added: “Some children don’t have enough food in the packed lunch box but they pretend otherwise because they’re embarrassed.”
Teachers who took part in the polling added that “it’s often the children whose parents just miss the cut-off for financial help who suffer the most”.
A separate survey also released today, carried out for London Assembly Labour, reveals that 250,000 children in the capital are living in “low” or “very low” food insecurity, with many in families that are “unable to buy basic necessities”.
