Thousands of children in the North East are being excluded from the full school experience because they live in poverty, a hard-hitting new report says.
The research from Children North East and the national Child Poverty Action Group highlights how activities such as school trips, non-uniform days and World Book Day can cause major difficulties for families living in poverty.
It also warns that the cost of IT equipment, stationery and books can mean that basic learning activities are being restricted for many poorer children.
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The two groups have called on the Government to take action to provide adequate funding to schools to ensure all curriculum-related costs are removed for pupils. It also wants ministers to ensure that local authorities are able to provide additional funding to help families with school costs through school clothing grants and subsidies for trips.
The report follows work done over the last decade by Children North East in its Poverty Proofing, which started with 1,000 children in the region being given disposal cameras to document the impact of poverty.
The project showed both how poverty impacted on the school day but also how negative experiences could be resolved through often simple changes.
Children North East has since worked with a number of schools in the North East and further afield to help schools change activities to avoid impacting on poorer pupils.
Leigh Elliott, CEO at Children North East, said: “Our Poverty Proofing work puts the perspective of young people at the heart of solutions to the issues that impact them daily.
“This report shares insight from over 4,500 students into how some school activities can unintentionally impact pupils from low-income families, making it harder for them to learn, achieve, and be happy at school.
“We are incredibly proud to see the work we started in the North East in 2011 reaching an international audience and supporting schools across England to improve the school day experience for students living in poverty.”
The report has been published as former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has warned that the UK’s welfare state safety net has been “torn apart” as more people are plunged into poverty.
It says: “As an overarching aim, we are calling on the UK Government and Department for Education to recognise the impact that school-related costs have on children’s ability to learn.
“We implore them to prioritise funding schools properly so they can offer a truly free and inclusive education, where every pupil can fully participate in school activities without cost barriers.”
The report finds that pupils experiencing poverty in England are financially excluded from full participation in a wide range of school subjects and activities, including PE, music, swimming and art and design.
It also finds that many common practices in schools can unintentionally draw attention to family incomes and make children feel embarrassed, including non-uniform days and having to buy trendy items such pencil cases.
Some families are borrowing money to pay for school activities like school trips, the report finds, as they don’t want children to lose out on valuable learning opportunities.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We continue to deliver year on year, real terms per pupil increases to school funding. In 2022-23 core schools funding will increase by £4bn compared to 2021-22 – a 5% boost in real terms per pupil.
“We are also supporting the most disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils through Pupil Premium funding, which is increasing to more than £2.6bn in 2022-23 and is the highest in cash terms since this funding began. It is for schools to decide where to spend their funding in order to best support their pupils.”
