1 | Breadline Britain - 591 responses - data cut on Wednesday June 13th | ||||||||||||
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3 | |||||||||||||
4 | Teaching phase (q119) | ||||||||||||
5 | Firstly, what phase do you teach? | ||||||||||||
6 | Total | Early Years | Primary | Middle | Secondary | 16-19 | |||||||
7 | Early Years | 19 | 3.00 % | 19 | 100.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % |
8 | Primary | 207 | 35.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 207 | 100.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % |
9 | Middle | 16 | 3.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 16 | 100.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % |
10 | Secondary | 290 | 49.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 290 | 100.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % |
11 | 16 - 19 | 59 | 10.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 59 | 100.00 % |
12 | Total | 591 | 100.00 % | 19 | 100.00 % | 207 | 100.00 % | 16 | 100.00 % | 290 | 100.00 % | 59 | 100.00 % |
13 | |||||||||||||
14 | Member / non-member (q131) | ||||||||||||
15 | Are you currently a member of the Guardian Teacher Network? | ||||||||||||
16 | Total | Early Years | Primary | Middle | Secondary | 16-19 | |||||||
17 | Yes | 363 | 61.00 % | 7 | 37.00 % | 92 | 44.00 % | 11 | 69.00 % | 204 | 70.00 % | 49 | 83.00 % |
18 | No | 228 | 39.00 % | 12 | 63.00 % | 115 | 56.00 % | 5 | 31.00 % | 86 | 30.00 % | 10 | 17.00 % |
19 | Total | 591 | 100.00 % | 19 | 100.00 % | 207 | 100.00 % | 16 | 100.00 % | 290 | 100.00 % | 59 | 100.00 % |
20 | |||||||||||||
21 | Do you see evidence of pupil hunger in the morning at your school? (ihunger) | ||||||||||||
22 | Total | Early Years | Primary | Middle | Secondary | 16-19 | |||||||
23 | Yes | 493 | 83.00 % | 17 | 89.00 % | 188 | 91.00 % | 13 | 81.00 % | 230 | 79.00 % | 45 | 76.00 % |
24 | No | 98 | 17.00 % | 2 | 11.00 % | 19 | 9.00 % | 3 | 19.00 % | 60 | 21.00 % | 14 | 24.00 % |
25 | Total | 591 | 100.00 % | 19 | 100.00 % | 207 | 100.00 % | 16 | 100.00 % | 290 | 100.00 % | 59 | 100.00 % |
26 | |||||||||||||
27 | Approximately, what percentage of children do you estimate arrive hungry or malnourished at your school? (ipercentage) | ||||||||||||
28 | Total | Early Years | Primary | Middle | Secondary | 16-19 | |||||||
29 | 0-25% | 273 | 55.00 % | 11 | 65.00 % | 113 | 60.00 % | 6 | 46.00 % | 119 | 52.00 % | 24 | 53.00 % |
30 | 25-50% | 139 | 28.00 % | 5 | 29.00 % | 50 | 27.00 % | 4 | 31.00 % | 63 | 27.00 % | 17 | 38.00 % |
31 | 50-75% | 41 | 8.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 16 | 9.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 24 | 10.00 % | 1 | 2.00 % |
32 | 75-100% | 9 | 2.00 % | 1 | 6.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 2 | 15.00 % | 5 | 2.00 % | 1 | 2.00 % |
33 | Don't know | 31 | 6.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 9 | 5.00 % | 1 | 8.00 % | 19 | 8.00 % | 2 | 4.00 % |
34 | Total | 493 | 100.00 % | 17 | 100.00 % | 188 | 100.00 % | 13 | 100.00 % | 230 | 100.00 % | 45 | 100.00 % |
35 | |||||||||||||
36 | Has the prevalence of hungry pupils identifiably increased or decreased in the past year/two years? (iincreasedecrease) | ||||||||||||
37 | Total | Early Years | Primary | Middle | Secondary | 16-19 | |||||||
38 | Increased | 272 | 55.00 % | 6 | 35.00 % | 102 | 54.00 % | 6 | 46.00 % | 126 | 55.00 % | 32 | 71.00 % |
39 | Decreased | 12 | 2.00 % | 2 | 12.00 % | 7 | 4.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 3 | 1.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % |
40 | Don't know | 209 | 42.00 % | 9 | 53.00 % | 79 | 42.00 % | 7 | 54.00 % | 101 | 44.00 % | 13 | 29.00 % |
41 | Total | 493 | 100.00 % | 17 | 100.00 % | 188 | 100.00 % | 13 | 100.00 % | 230 | 100.00 % | 45 | 100.00 % |
42 | |||||||||||||
43 | Would you say this increase is? (q140) | ||||||||||||
44 | Total | Early Years | Primary | Middle | Secondary | 16-19 | |||||||
45 | Dramatic | 54 | 20.00 % | 1 | 17.00 % | 18 | 18.00 % | 3 | 50.00 % | 25 | 20.00 % | 7 | 22.00 % |
46 | Moderate | 186 | 68.00 % | 5 | 83.00 % | 70 | 69.00 % | 3 | 50.00 % | 86 | 68.00 % | 22 | 69.00 % |
47 | Marginal | 32 | 12.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 14 | 14.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 15 | 12.00 % | 3 | 9.00 % |
48 | Total | 272 | 100.00 % | 6 | 100.00 % | 102 | 100.00 % | 6 | 100.00 % | 126 | 100.00 % | 32 | 100.00 % |
49 | |||||||||||||
50 | Which of the following are factors in the increased prevalence of pupil hunger? (q141) | ||||||||||||
51 | Total | Early Years | Primary | Middle | Secondary | 16-19 | |||||||
52 | General poverty | 169 | 62.00 % | 5 | 83.00 % | 65 | 64.00 % | 4 | 67.00 % | 77 | 61.00 % | 18 | 56.00 % |
53 | Cost of living pressure | 160 | 59.00 % | 4 | 67.00 % | 64 | 63.00 % | 2 | 33.00 % | 68 | 54.00 % | 22 | 69.00 % |
54 | Benefit cuts | 111 | 41.00 % | 2 | 33.00 % | 43 | 42.00 % | 3 | 50.00 % | 43 | 34.00 % | 20 | 63.00 % |
55 | Lack of family time | 120 | 44.00 % | 1 | 17.00 % | 49 | 48.00 % | 4 | 67.00 % | 56 | 44.00 % | 10 | 31.00 % |
56 | Family health or social problems | 159 | 58.00 % | 5 | 83.00 % | 66 | 65.00 % | 3 | 50.00 % | 71 | 56.00 % | 14 | 44.00 % |
57 | Lack of parenting skills | 195 | 72.00 % | 5 | 83.00 % | 85 | 83.00 % | 5 | 83.00 % | 91 | 72.00 % | 9 | 28.00 % |
58 | Other (please specify) | 29 | 11.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 7 | 7.00 % | 2 | 33.00 % | 13 | 10.00 % | 7 | 22.00 % |
59 | Total | 272 | 100.00 % | 6 | 100.00 % | 102 | 100.00 % | 6 | 100.00 % | 126 | 100.00 % | 32 | 100.00 % |
60 | |||||||||||||
61 | From the list below, which of the following are signs that children arrive at school hungry? (ireasons) | ||||||||||||
62 | Total | Early Years | Primary | Middle | Secondary | 16-19 | |||||||
63 | Tiredness | 422 | 86.00 % | 13 | 76.00 % | 161 | 86.00 % | 10 | 77.00 % | 199 | 87.00 % | 39 | 87.00 % |
64 | Children saying they don't feel well | 312 | 63.00 % | 13 | 76.00 % | 137 | 73.00 % | 8 | 62.00 % | 141 | 61.00 % | 13 | 29.00 % |
65 | Lack of concentration | 448 | 91.00 % | 13 | 76.00 % | 171 | 91.00 % | 11 | 85.00 % | 213 | 93.00 % | 40 | 89.00 % |
66 | Behaviour issues | 355 | 72.00 % | 11 | 65.00 % | 145 | 77.00 % | 10 | 77.00 % | 162 | 70.00 % | 27 | 60.00 % |
67 | Other (please specify) | 116 | 24.00 % | 8 | 47.00 % | 46 | 24.00 % | 4 | 31.00 % | 49 | 21.00 % | 9 | 20.00 % |
68 | Total | 493 | 100.00 % | 17 | 100.00 % | 188 | 100.00 % | 13 | 100.00 % | 230 | 100.00 % | 45 | 100.00 % |
69 | |||||||||||||
70 | What actions do you take/have you taken as a school or as a teacher, to address this problem? (isolutions) | ||||||||||||
71 | Total | Early Years | Primary | Middle | Secondary | 16-19 | |||||||
72 | Taken food/fruit into school for children | 244 | 49.00 % | 12 | 71.00 % | 119 | 63.00 % | 4 | 31.00 % | 94 | 41.00 % | 15 | 33.00 % |
73 | Given them dinner money | 85 | 17.00 % | 1 | 6.00 % | 11 | 6.00 % | 3 | 23.00 % | 63 | 27.00 % | 7 | 16.00 % |
74 | Other (please specify) | 263 | 53.00 % | 6 | 35.00 % | 115 | 61.00 % | 7 | 54.00 % | 113 | 49.00 % | 22 | 49.00 % |
75 | Total | 493 | 100.00 % | 17 | 100.00 % | 188 | 100.00 % | 13 | 100.00 % | 230 | 100.00 % | 45 | 100.00 % |
76 | |||||||||||||
77 | How frequently are children being taken out of class due to illness/behaviour and given something to eat? (ioutofclass) | ||||||||||||
78 | Total | Early Years | Primary | Middle | Secondary | 16-19 | |||||||
79 | Never | 126 | 26.00 % | 2 | 12.00 % | 25 | 13.00 % | 1 | 8.00 % | 82 | 36.00 % | 16 | 36.00 % |
80 | Sometimes | 293 | 59.00 % | 11 | 65.00 % | 126 | 67.00 % | 12 | 92.00 % | 120 | 52.00 % | 24 | 53.00 % |
81 | Regularly | 66 | 13.00 % | 3 | 18.00 % | 32 | 17.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 26 | 11.00 % | 5 | 11.00 % |
82 | Very often | 8 | 2.00 % | 1 | 6.00 % | 5 | 3.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 2 | 1.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % |
83 | Total | 493 | 100.00 % | 17 | 100.00 % | 188 | 100.00 % | 13 | 100.00 % | 230 | 100.00 % | 45 | 100.00 % |
84 | |||||||||||||
85 | Do you feel that the lack of breakfast for some children (eg. behaviour issues) affects the teaching of other children in the class? (ilackofbreakfast) | ||||||||||||
86 | Total | Early Years | Primary | Middle | Secondary | 16-19 | |||||||
87 | Yes | 441 | 89.00 % | 14 | 82.00 % | 158 | 84.00 % | 12 | 92.00 % | 212 | 92.00 % | 45 | 100.00 % |
88 | No | 19 | 4.00 % | 2 | 12.00 % | 13 | 7.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 4 | 2.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % |
89 | Don't know | 33 | 7.00 % | 1 | 6.00 % | 17 | 9.00 % | 1 | 8.00 % | 14 | 6.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % |
90 | Total | 493 | 100.00 % | 17 | 100.00 % | 188 | 100.00 % | 13 | 100.00 % | 230 | 100.00 % | 45 | 100.00 % |
91 | |||||||||||||
92 | Would you say that the nutritional health of pupils increases or decreases during school holidays (when they do not receive school meals)? (ischoolholidays) | ||||||||||||
93 | Total | Early Years | Primary | Middle | Secondary | 16-19 | |||||||
94 | Increases | 48 | 8.00 % | 1 | 5.00 % | 19 | 9.00 % | 4 | 25.00 % | 18 | 6.00 % | 6 | 10.00 % |
95 | Decreases | 245 | 41.00 % | 7 | 37.00 % | 107 | 52.00 % | 6 | 38.00 % | 108 | 37.00 % | 17 | 29.00 % |
96 | Don't know | 298 | 50.00 % | 11 | 58.00 % | 81 | 39.00 % | 6 | 38.00 % | 164 | 57.00 % | 36 | 61.00 % |
97 | Total | 591 | 100.00 % | 19 | 100.00 % | 207 | 100.00 % | 16 | 100.00 % | 290 | 100.00 % | 59 | 100.00 % |
98 | |||||||||||||
99 | Does your school run/host a breakfast club? (ibreakfastclub) | ||||||||||||
100 | Total | Early Years | Primary | Middle | Secondary | 16-19 | |||||||
101 | Yes | 378 | 64.00 % | 15 | 79.00 % | 151 | 73.00 % | 4 | 25.00 % | 191 | 66.00 % | 17 | 29.00 % |
102 | No | 213 | 36.00 % | 4 | 21.00 % | 56 | 27.00 % | 12 | 75.00 % | 99 | 34.00 % | 42 | 71.00 % |
103 | Total | 591 | 100.00 % | 19 | 100.00 % | 207 | 100.00 % | 16 | 100.00 % | 290 | 100.00 % | 59 | 100.00 % |
104 | |||||||||||||
105 | Does this service have a positive effect on the pupil in any of the areas listed below? (q147) | ||||||||||||
106 | Total | Early Years | Primary | Middle | Secondary | 16-19 | |||||||
107 | Attendance | 229 | 61.00 % | 7 | 47.00 % | 110 | 73.00 % | 1 | 25.00 % | 104 | 54.00 % | 7 | 41.00 % |
108 | Punctuality | 266 | 70.00 % | 11 | 73.00 % | 128 | 85.00 % | 1 | 25.00 % | 115 | 60.00 % | 11 | 65.00 % |
109 | Behaviour | 245 | 65.00 % | 9 | 60.00 % | 104 | 69.00 % | 2 | 50.00 % | 122 | 64.00 % | 8 | 47.00 % |
110 | Learning ability | 241 | 64.00 % | 8 | 53.00 % | 107 | 71.00 % | 3 | 75.00 % | 116 | 61.00 % | 7 | 41.00 % |
111 | Other (please specify) | 66 | 17.00 % | 1 | 7.00 % | 33 | 22.00 % | 1 | 25.00 % | 27 | 14.00 % | 4 | 24.00 % |
112 | None of the above | 34 | 9.00 % | 1 | 7.00 % | 8 | 5.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 23 | 12.00 % | 2 | 12.00 % |
113 | Total | 378 | 100.00 % | 15 | 100.00 % | 151 | 100.00 % | 4 | 100.00 % | 191 | 100.00 % | 17 | 100.00 % |
114 | |||||||||||||
115 | Is this because? (q150) | ||||||||||||
116 | Total | Early Years | Primary | Middle | Secondary | 16-19 | |||||||
117 | The breakfast club has closed | 45 | 21.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 14 | 25.00 % | 3 | 25.00 % | 25 | 25.00 % | 3 | 7.00 % |
118 | The school does not want a breakfast club | 133 | 62.00 % | 3 | 75.00 % | 34 | 61.00 % | 7 | 58.00 % | 59 | 60.00 % | 30 | 71.00 % |
119 | Total | 213 | 100.00 % | 4 | 100.00 % | 56 | 100.00 % | 12 | 100.00 % | 99 | 100.00 % | 42 | 100.00 % |
120 | |||||||||||||
121 | Do you feel that provision of a breakfast club at your school would address an identifiable need and make a positive contribution to the educational needs of your pupils? (q151) | ||||||||||||
122 | Total | Early Years | Primary | Middle | Secondary | 16-19 | |||||||
123 | Yes | 133 | 62.00 % | 2 | 50.00 % | 33 | 59.00 % | 11 | 92.00 % | 66 | 67.00 % | 21 | 50.00 % |
124 | No | 31 | 15.00 % | 2 | 50.00 % | 10 | 18.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 10 | 10.00 % | 9 | 21.00 % |
125 | Don't know | 49 | 23.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 13 | 23.00 % | 1 | 8.00 % | 23 | 23.00 % | 12 | 29.00 % |
126 | Total | 213 | 100.00 % | 4 | 100.00 % | 56 | 100.00 % | 12 | 100.00 % | 99 | 100.00 % | 42 | 100.00 % |
127 | |||||||||||||
128 | Do you believe it is schools that have a duty to address the issue of children coming to schools without breakfast? (q152) | ||||||||||||
129 | Total | Early Years | Primary | Middle | Secondary | 16-19 | |||||||
130 | Yes | 322 | 54.00 % | 13 | 68.00 % | 117 | 57.00 % | 11 | 69.00 % | 149 | 51.00 % | 32 | 54.00 % |
131 | No | 212 | 36.00 % | 5 | 26.00 % | 66 | 32.00 % | 4 | 25.00 % | 113 | 39.00 % | 24 | 41.00 % |
132 | Don't know | 57 | 10.00 % | 1 | 5.00 % | 24 | 12.00 % | 1 | 6.00 % | 28 | 10.00 % | 3 | 5.00 % |
133 | Total | 591 | 100.00 % | 19 | 100.00 % | 207 | 100.00 % | 16 | 100.00 % | 290 | 100.00 % | 59 | 100.00 % |
134 | |||||||||||||
135 | Should Free School Breakfasts be available in the same way as Free School Meals? (q153) | ||||||||||||
136 | Total | Early Years | Primary | Middle | Secondary | 16-19 | |||||||
137 | Yes | 463 | 78.00 % | 13 | 68.00 % | 159 | 77.00 % | 13 | 81.00 % | 237 | 82.00 % | 41 | 69.00 % |
138 | No | 61 | 10.00 % | 2 | 11.00 % | 20 | 10.00 % | 2 | 13.00 % | 28 | 10.00 % | 9 | 15.00 % |
139 | Don't know | 67 | 11.00 % | 4 | 21.00 % | 28 | 14.00 % | 1 | 6.00 % | 25 | 9.00 % | 9 | 15.00 % |
140 | Total | 591 | 100.00 % | 19 | 100.00 % | 207 | 100.00 % | 16 | 100.00 % | 290 | 100.00 % | 59 | 100.00 % |
141 | |||||||||||||
142 | Gender (q1) | ||||||||||||
143 | Are you..... | ||||||||||||
144 | Total | Early Years | Primary | Middle | Secondary | 16-19 | |||||||
145 | Male | 123 | 21.00 % | 2 | 11.00 % | 20 | 10.00 % | 3 | 19.00 % | 83 | 29.00 % | 15 | 25.00 % |
146 | Female | 468 | 79.00 % | 17 | 89.00 % | 187 | 90.00 % | 13 | 81.00 % | 207 | 71.00 % | 44 | 75.00 % |
147 | Total | 591 | 100.00 % | 19 | 100.00 % | 207 | 100.00 % | 16 | 100.00 % | 290 | 100.00 % | 59 | 100.00 % |
148 | |||||||||||||
149 | Age (q2) | ||||||||||||
150 | What age are you? | ||||||||||||
151 | Total | Early Years | Primary | Middle | Secondary | 16-19 | |||||||
152 | Under 22 | 6 | 1.00 % | 1 | 5.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 2 | 1.00 % | 3 | 5.00 % |
153 | 22 - 29 | 101 | 17.00 % | 6 | 32.00 % | 27 | 13.00 % | 4 | 25.00 % | 58 | 20.00 % | 6 | 10.00 % |
154 | 30 - 39 | 139 | 24.00 % | 2 | 11.00 % | 51 | 25.00 % | 2 | 13.00 % | 76 | 26.00 % | 8 | 14.00 % |
155 | 40 - 49 | 172 | 29.00 % | 5 | 26.00 % | 63 | 30.00 % | 4 | 25.00 % | 82 | 28.00 % | 18 | 31.00 % |
156 | 50 and over | 173 | 29.00 % | 5 | 26.00 % | 66 | 32.00 % | 6 | 38.00 % | 72 | 25.00 % | 24 | 41.00 % |
157 | Total | 591 | 100.00 % | 19 | 100.00 % | 207 | 100.00 % | 16 | 100.00 % | 290 | 100.00 % | 59 | 100.00 % |
158 | |||||||||||||
159 | Region (q3) | ||||||||||||
160 | In which part of the United Kingdom do you teach? | ||||||||||||
161 | Total | Early Years | Primary | Middle | Secondary | 16-19 | |||||||
162 | North West | 77 | 13.00 % | 2 | 11.00 % | 30 | 14.00 % | 2 | 13.00 % | 36 | 12.00 % | 7 | 12.00 % |
163 | North | 30 | 5.00 % | 5 | 26.00 % | 5 | 2.00 % | 4 | 25.00 % | 12 | 4.00 % | 4 | 7.00 % |
164 | Yorkshire & Humberside | 48 | 8.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 20 | 10.00 % | 1 | 6.00 % | 23 | 8.00 % | 4 | 7.00 % |
165 | East Midlands | 27 | 5.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 6 | 3.00 % | 1 | 6.00 % | 14 | 5.00 % | 6 | 10.00 % |
166 | East Anglia | 33 | 6.00 % | 1 | 5.00 % | 12 | 6.00 % | 3 | 19.00 % | 15 | 5.00 % | 2 | 3.00 % |
167 | South East | 85 | 14.00 % | 2 | 11.00 % | 29 | 14.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 45 | 16.00 % | 9 | 15.00 % |
168 | Greater London | 143 | 24.00 % | 5 | 26.00 % | 63 | 30.00 % | 2 | 13.00 % | 59 | 20.00 % | 14 | 24.00 % |
169 | South West | 51 | 9.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 10 | 5.00 % | 1 | 6.00 % | 36 | 12.00 % | 4 | 7.00 % |
170 | Wales | 18 | 3.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 5 | 2.00 % | 1 | 6.00 % | 8 | 3.00 % | 4 | 7.00 % |
171 | West Midlands | 46 | 8.00 % | 2 | 11.00 % | 20 | 10.00 % | 1 | 6.00 % | 20 | 7.00 % | 3 | 5.00 % |
172 | Scotland | 22 | 4.00 % | 1 | 5.00 % | 6 | 3.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 13 | 4.00 % | 2 | 3.00 % |
173 | Northern Ireland | 11 | 2.00 % | 1 | 5.00 % | 1 | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 9 | 3.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % |
174 | Total | 591 | 100.00 % | 19 | 100.00 % | 207 | 100.00 % | 16 | 100.00 % | 290 | 100.00 % | 59 | 100.00 % |
175 | |||||||||||||
176 | Type of school (q118) | ||||||||||||
177 | In which type of school do you teach? | ||||||||||||
178 | Total | Early Years | Primary | Middle | Secondary | 16-19 | |||||||
179 | State | 422 | 71.00 % | 18 | 95.00 % | 193 | 93.00 % | 11 | 69.00 % | 157 | 54.00 % | 43 | 73.00 % |
180 | Independent | 35 | 6.00 % | 1 | 5.00 % | 3 | 1.00 % | 2 | 13.00 % | 20 | 7.00 % | 9 | 15.00 % |
181 | Academy | 94 | 16.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 5 | 2.00 % | 1 | 6.00 % | 86 | 30.00 % | 2 | 3.00 % |
182 | Free school | 5 | 1.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 1 | 0.00 % | 1 | 6.00 % | 2 | 1.00 % | 1 | 2.00 % |
183 | Special | 10 | 2.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 1 | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 7 | 2.00 % | 2 | 3.00 % |
184 | PRU | 25 | 4.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 4 | 2.00 % | 1 | 6.00 % | 18 | 6.00 % | 2 | 3.00 % |
185 | Total | 591 | 100.00 % | 19 | 100.00 % | 207 | 100.00 % | 16 | 100.00 % | 290 | 100.00 % | 59 | 100.00 % |
186 | |||||||||||||
187 | Teaching length (q120) | ||||||||||||
188 | How long have you been teaching? | ||||||||||||
189 | Total | Early Years | Primary | Middle | Secondary | 16-19 | |||||||
190 | 0 - 5 years | 146 | 25.00 % | 8 | 42.00 % | 42 | 20.00 % | 3 | 19.00 % | 81 | 28.00 % | 12 | 20.00 % |
191 | 6 - 10 years | 127 | 21.00 % | 2 | 11.00 % | 49 | 24.00 % | 4 | 25.00 % | 62 | 21.00 % | 10 | 17.00 % |
192 | 11 - 15 years | 104 | 18.00 % | 4 | 21.00 % | 42 | 20.00 % | 2 | 13.00 % | 43 | 15.00 % | 13 | 22.00 % |
193 | 16 - 20 years | 94 | 16.00 % | 3 | 16.00 % | 35 | 17.00 % | 3 | 19.00 % | 39 | 13.00 % | 14 | 24.00 % |
194 | 21 years or longer | 120 | 20.00 % | 2 | 11.00 % | 39 | 19.00 % | 4 | 25.00 % | 65 | 22.00 % | 10 | 17.00 % |
195 | Total | 591 | 100.00 % | 19 | 100.00 % | 207 | 100.00 % | 16 | 100.00 % | 290 | 100.00 % | 59 | 100.00 % |
196 | |||||||||||||
197 | Average hours (q128) | ||||||||||||
198 | In an average week, how many hours do you work? | ||||||||||||
199 | Total | Early Years | Primary | Middle | Secondary | 16-19 | |||||||
200 | < 30 hours | 67 | 11.00 % | 2 | 11.00 % | 15 | 7.00 % | 7 | 44.00 % | 29 | 10.00 % | 14 | 24.00 % |
201 | 30 - 40 hours | 128 | 22.00 % | 6 | 32.00 % | 35 | 17.00 % | 2 | 13.00 % | 66 | 23.00 % | 19 | 32.00 % |
202 | 40 - 50 hours | 185 | 31.00 % | 5 | 26.00 % | 70 | 34.00 % | 5 | 31.00 % | 91 | 31.00 % | 14 | 24.00 % |
203 | > 50 hours | 211 | 36.00 % | 6 | 32.00 % | 87 | 42.00 % | 2 | 13.00 % | 104 | 36.00 % | 12 | 20.00 % |
204 | Total | 591 | 100.00 % | 19 | 100.00 % | 207 | 100.00 % | 16 | 100.00 % | 290 | 100.00 % | 59 | 100.00 % |
205 | |||||||||||||
206 | Teaching phase (q119a) | ||||||||||||
207 | Firstly, what phase do you teach? | ||||||||||||
208 | Total | Early Years | Primary | Middle | Secondary | 16-19 | |||||||
209 | Early Years | 21 | 4.00 % | 18 | 95.00 % | 2 | 1.00 % | 1 | 6.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % |
210 | Primary | 207 | 35.00 % | 1 | 5.00 % | 205 | 99.00 % | 1 | 6.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % |
211 | Middle | 14 | 2.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 14 | 88.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % |
212 | Secondary | 288 | 49.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 286 | 99.00 % | 2 | 3.00 % |
213 | 16 - 19 | 61 | 10.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 4 | 1.00 % | 57 | 97.00 % |
214 | Total | 591 | 100.00 % | 19 | 100.00 % | 207 | 100.00 % | 16 | 100.00 % | 290 | 100.00 % | 59 | 100.00 % |
215 | |||||||||||||
216 | Role (q121) | ||||||||||||
217 | What level is your role? | ||||||||||||
218 | Total | Early Years | Primary | Middle | Secondary | 16-19 | |||||||
219 | Head teacher | 19 | 3.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 14 | 7.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 4 | 1.00 % | 1 | 2.00 % |
220 | Deputy head | 29 | 5.00 % | 2 | 11.00 % | 18 | 9.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 9 | 3.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % |
221 | Assistant head | 27 | 5.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % | 12 | 6.00 % | 1 | 6.00 % | 14 | 5.00 % | 0 | 0.00 % |
222 | Department head | 84 | 14.00 % | 1 | 5.00 % | 13 | 6.00 % | 1 | 6.00 % | 58 | 20.00 % | 11 | 19.00 % |
223 | Subject co-ordinator | 82 | 14.00 % | 1 | 5.00 % | 32 | 15.00 % | 2 | 13.00 % | 35 | 12.00 % | 12 | 20.00 % |
224 | Classroom teacher | 243 | 41.00 % | 10 | 53.00 % | 73 | 35.00 % | 6 | 38.00 % | 130 | 45.00 % | 24 | 41.00 % |
225 | Teaching assistant | 22 | 4.00 % | 4 | 21.00 % | 11 | 5.00 % | 1 | 6.00 % | 4 | 1.00 % | 2 | 3.00 % |
226 | Other (please specify) | 85 | 14.00 % | 1 | 5.00 % | 34 | 16.00 % | 5 | 31.00 % | 36 | 12.00 % | 9 | 15.00 % |
227 | Total | 591 | 100.00 % | 19 | 100.00 % | 207 | 100.00 % | 16 | 100.00 % | 290 | 100.00 % | 59 | 100.00 % |
1 | Which of the following are factors in the increased prevalence of pupil hunger? (q141) | ||||||||
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3 | General poverty | 169 | 62.00 % | ||||||
4 | Cost of living pressure | 160 | 59.00 % | ||||||
5 | Benefit cuts | 111 | 41.00 % | ||||||
6 | Lack of family time | 120 | 44.00 % | ||||||
7 | Family health or social problems | 159 | 58.00 % | ||||||
8 | Lack of parenting skills | 195 | 72.00 % | ||||||
9 | Other (please specify) | 29 | 11.00 % | ||||||
10 | Total | 272 | 100.00 % | ||||||
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2 | Increased | 272 | 55% | ||||||
3 | Decreased | 12 | 2% | ||||||
4 | Don't know | 209 | 42% | ||||||
5 | Total | 493 | 100% | ||||||
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2 | 0-25% | 55 | 273 | ||||||
3 | 25-50% | 28 | 139 | ||||||
4 | 50-75% | 8 | 41 | ||||||
5 | 75-100% | 2 | 9 | ||||||
6 | Don't know | 6 | 31 | ||||||
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8 | Approximately, what percentage of children do you estimate arrive hungry or malnourished at your school? (ipercentage) | ||||||||
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1 | Please tell us any thoughts you have on the issue of pupil hunger and solutions you would take to address it. |
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2 | I often ask my class 'What did you have for breakfast?' or 'Who didn't have breakfast this morning'. I am always shocked by the number who claim not to have had anything to eat that morning. It is always over 50%. These are 8 and 9 year olds. When you combine this with the lack of sleep they get (many are never in bed before 10pm) and poor diet/lack of breakfast it is not surprising that when they come to school they are not ready to learn. I often encourage children who are regularly late and/or do not have breakfast to come to our club. |
3 | We provide a breakfast club at 80p a day. If parents can't pay, they are not asked to. If a child expresses hunger or thirst, they are taken from the classroom and given toast and juice. |
4 | Breakfast club should be a part of school routine thereby not singling out individiuals but serving the school community as a whole. Sometimes the 'middle-class' children are arriving without having eaten and can slip through the radar. |
5 | In response to some of the questions where I answered 'no', this was, for example, because the provision of a breakfast club would, if involving a fee, not reach the most affected children and, if free - with 55%+ children eligible for free school meals - prove a logistical nightmare. Hunger assuredly does affect children's capacity to concentrate (although we do not see it impacting on conduct behaviour) and is anyway not a state for anyone to have to function while experiencing it. It is impossible to speculate about the percentage of children who come to school hungry as I'm sure this varies depending on the year group e.g older children may have the responsibility of making their own breakfasts and may not choose to: in one y5 class I was teaching yesterday morning, fewer than 10% had had breakfast; in the next class upwards of 50% had. |
6 | It's not always the impoverished or chaotic parents who don't nourish their children properly. I teach in a middle class urban school and the main problems are: parents are too busy with careers or absent from the home so don't supervise, carers may be ignorant about healthy breakfasts (or bribing kids by feeding them junk!) and, finally, parents should know better, butt let things slide because they feel guilty about being so preoccupied with other things. Also, we often get kids who manipulate their parents (Mum in suit, looking harassed, 'Oh, he'll only eat chocolate in the morning and it's better than him eating nothing - I don't know how to sort it out!' - cue triumphant smile from tiny child...) |
7 | The issue of pupil hunger is symptomatic of the general lack of care for children that the political climate is generating at present. It is self evident that if pupils do not have their basic needs met, then learning and behaviour will suffer. Pupils who are coming to school hungry, are inevitably going to be deprived in areas other than nutrition. This issue is also linked to poor choices being made by pupils/parents: buying crisps on the way to school as a breakfast substitute, for example. The fact that the nutritional standards for school dinners can be disregarded by academies is a travesty: for some children this will be their only 'balanced' meal of the day. There is a temptation for schools to provide pupils with opportunities to buy the 'wrong' sort of snacks because this generates money. There should be safeguards put into the system to prevent this happening, but this is 'the thin end of the wedge' as regards the sinsiter snares of capitalism invading education at present. Food and nutrition should take more of a central place within the curriculum. Oftsted should give more precedent to the pastoral care of children: we feel that 'every child' doesn't matter any more under the coalition government's education regime. If we are to have rounded citizens with life-long skills, then the crude standards agenda needs to be modified. Social Services/Health also need to work more closely with school as neglect is a serious, chronic issue, and is generally only investigated when it is severe. |
8 | As a form of hunger is neglect it should be the schools responsibility to provide some support for the parents who seem to be struggling. If the school children start the day with a glass of milk and a musli bar provided by the school the problem should solve itself. The goverment should provide money to fund this. Hydrated and fed will inhance the pupils ability to learn. |
9 | It should be monitored in the same way as school attendance, and the school should be allowed to 'officially' ask the parents why the child is going without breakfast. At the moment it is noted in a file, but not considered important enough on its own to warrant further action. |
10 | It would be a good idea to provide Free School Breakfasts for children requiring them. However, in our school it's children that tend to have working parents and are not given breakfast because they are in too much of a hurry to get out of the house in the mornings. |
11 | free breakfast clubs will be great, but who will fund and run the club. as teachers we are very busy, coming in early and not going home 'till late. The school that I work at is in a deprived area, the parents need to be educated that a healthy breakfast is very important and not give their child a bar of chocolate, or a packet of crisps as an alternative. In some cases I have had children come to school that have not had breakfast and I have made them toast or given them cereal. I have mentioned it to the parents and their response has been 'they didn't want any breakfast, or we woke up late' Is is an issue and if we want our children to be active learners, they need to have something in their little tummies. |
12 | Our breakfast club is very popular; we have a lot of working parents. I feel very sorry for the children that do not attend this club (a minority) and do not get adequate food in the mornings. I think parenting classes should be available and instead of 'here, have some benefit money', there should be a voucher system to ensure that the benefits are used correctly. |
13 | Encourage parents not give children money to buy their own lunch on the way to school. Encourage parents to make their children have school dinners. The more parental engagment the better. |
14 | Parents need educating on the importance of a healthy, balanced diet, and how to positively encourage children to eat breakfast. I have children in my class that get either a Kitkat or bag of crisps for breakfast with exactly the same in their packed lunch - nothing else. |
15 | Many pupils who woudl benefit from a breakfast club schemem come from disorgansied homes where they arrive at school late - they might not feel the benefit. On the otehr hand many of the chn who would benefit arrive at school very early 8am or so and have not necessarily had brekafast before they left home - they would definitely benefit. Free milk for all primary school children to be had first thing would destigmatise hunger poverty and ensure all chn had a dose of calcium and healthy fats etc and provide those who are chronically hungry with a lifeline. |
16 | It's not the school's duty to provide breakfast but it is a sensible and caring step that impacts on child welfare not to mention progress and attainment and, potentially, sociability. I know one local school provides breakfast for all its children and has toasters in every classroom to ensure children start the day with something inside them. |
17 | There needs to be accountability for parents and carers as well as schools, being unemployed is not an excuse child benefit should be used to feed and clothe your child. I have had children who have passed out through hunger, as a result of not bring fed over a weekend, but mum and dad both had cigarettes. Notifying ss is fruitless to say the least they are under funded and staffed and have horrific cases which ate prioritised over neglect |
18 | I have a huge concern about free school meals as the parent's finacnes should be enough to adress feeding children. What happens to these children in the holidays and weekends. We only provide a lunch 190 days - what about the others? If free school breakfasts were introduced i believe this would also take away some of the parental responsibility. |
19 | Where do you begin, teachers have so many other matters that they are supposed to handle. I have children telling me daily that they are hungry, that they have eaten, sometimes too afraid to even talk about it. One parent told their child at home that they had a meal that day at school and he was being completely rude asking to join his family for food at home. it is shocking. The infants in our school get fruit, this should be extended right through to the juniors, this would have a surprising impact on their learning. |
20 | Better education for parents is needed. Child allowance gives parents money to feed their children and this should be used to feed them. Giving teachers another responsibility for feeding children is not on |
21 | It would be great if some guidelines could be drawn up to let schools know what they are/are not allowed to do. In one school I worked at, the majority of pupils had no breakfast and most teachers kept a supply of cereal bars and fruit in their classrooms to give children when they came in. However I suggested this in my current school (hunger is less of a problem but still evident) and was told that it was impossible as parents would feel insulted/undermined, however surely the most important thing at the end of the day is the welfare of the children! |
22 | The issue of hunger in school age children is unacceptable in a country that enjoys the benefits of a welfare system. Parents who are neglecting their basic duties towards their children need to be identified, monitored and helped with advice on how to provide for their chidren, there is plenty of help on hand and no excuse for such lack of responsibility towards youngsters. |
23 | Too many parents seem still to be unaware of the importance of healthy eating and the impact on learning and behaviour. Children at our school who do eat breakfast often have nothing more than a quick snack, sometimes just a chocolate muffin on the way to school. During sats week, we provide a free breakfast for our y6 children and there is a 100% uptake. Short of offering a free breakfast to every child, I am not sure what the solutions are. On the occasions when I have phoned a parent to check whether a particular child has had breakfast, they have been very casual and quite dismissive about it. It doesn't seem that educating parents has worked. If people are forced to make choices about spending, healthy breakfasts often are not the priority. |
24 | It is a problem... but then again teachers role should not be over stretched. Yes we care but when you are having to teach basic manners and how to use a knife and fork, even potty training in nursery, then the parenting definitely needs to be addressed not shoved onto schools and teachers |
25 | About one third of my children out of 30 7-8 year olds come to school hungry. This is sometimes because of poor parenting ie getting up too late. Some of it is pupil choice ie refuse to eat what is available. For the rest it is lack of money and long term poverty. Our before school breakfast club is only for paying customers. This all affects behaviour and ability to learn, children constantly clock watch for lunchtime too. |
26 | No sure how you can ensure parents get out of bed on a morning to make breakfast for their children |
27 | Its not always the children who are obviously hungry. many just cope. we have fruit available for all and those we have identified have breakfast every morning |
28 | Free school breakfasts for school meal children has trebled the size of our breakfast club and increased attendance, including punctuality. If this could be done nationally it would be fantastic. |
29 | I would take every member of the present cabinet, strip them of their wealth, leave them to live in cardboard boxes: Call it a redistribution of wealth. The money could be channelled back to worthwhile causes. |
30 | I think that it is the school's duty to raise awareness of the problem, but I don't think it is neccessarily the school's responsibilty to provide a breakfast club. I didn't answer the question about provision of a breakfast club because neither of the two options applied. We have never had a breakfast club (apart from on special occasions eg walk to school week) and have investigated having one. The local nursery approached us about running one in one of our buildings but as a school we could not afford to put any money towards it from our budget. The parents were consulted as to how many would feel they would use the service (which would have cost around £1.50 a day) and the response was not not financially viable for the nursery to implement it. As a school we currently don not have enough money to pay for 7 full time class teachers for our 7 full or almost full classes. We have one of our classes being taught half the week by an HLTA. We already make a financial loss on the hot school meal service, but continue to provide it as we believe that a hot meal midday is beneficial to the children's wellbeing and learning. I also don't feel that it is really the responsibility of the school to ensure people's children are fed. It is your parent's responsibility to bring you up and provide you with food and clothing. Surely before people embark on having children they ensure they will be able to provide these basic needs. However, if I bring my" higher than thou" sounding opinions back down to earth and open my eyes to the real world, and what I see everyday from my Year 4 classroom I appreciate that people struggle. They struggle for many different reasons and circumstances can change dramatically. There are many demands upon parents these days; uniform, PE Kits, coats, shoes, books, school trips (where costs to parents have risen dramatically over the last few years as transport costs have risen and where in the past school budgets have been able to subsidise such trips, we now simply cannot afford to), music lessons and sports coaching. Not to mention the cost of after school care as nowadays both parents generally have to work full time to pay the mortgage/rent and therefore are not able to pick their children up at 3:15. Several children in my class come to school looking dishevelled, smelling, dirty and or hungry. As a professional who works with children, as a teacher who went into the job because I genuinely care about the welfare and education of children and as someone who believes that primary teaching is less about stuffing the kids full of knowledge and more about teaching them the social skills for life and developing a love for learning and the skills to beome independent thinkers; I believe it is my duty to ensure the children are ready and able to be the best learners they can be during the school day. Therefore it is my duty to make sure they are fed. In an ideal world we would love to offer a breakfast club at school. Can we do it on our budget though? No. Do teachers have the time to provide this service along with everything else the government past and present expects us to be doing? Unfortunately not. Another problem which I believe affects the children's ability to make progress in their school work is the number of children not doing any homework. In our school the main homework set is 15 minutes of reading every evening (along with practise of other skills for example times tables and an increasing amount of homework as they progress up the school). I would say the majority of my class do not do this minimum amount of homework. When asked why their parent's havent commented in their reading record book for the last month their reply is consistently "but my mum's too busy" or "we don't have time". Children are not having that quality time with their parents which is so vital to their development as learners, their expansion of their vocabulary and their understanding of the world around them. And if their not having the quality time in the evenings with their frazzled parents and their not sitting down in the mornings to eat breakfast as a family, we have to ask when is the parenting happening? |
31 | Children should be given free fruit and milk , the breakfast club would be good for free school dinner children but sadly their parents might not get them there in time |
32 | I feel this is linked to the general lack of parenting skills, and unfortunately sometimes love, that I have seen. Often a child is left to get themselves up, eat breakfast themselves (and possibly sort it out for younger siblings), make their lunch (or grab what ever is available) and get themselves to school. The key message that society needs to send out - not just schools - is that having a child means that YOU have to make sacrifices because YOU have certain responses that YOU cannot excuse away no matter what the difficulties. |
33 | I think more children than ever are actually on their own in a morning with parents working or parents who don't bother getting out of bed. |
34 | Free school breakfasts would transform the performance, attainment, attendance and punctuality in some primary schools. All children would be set up for the day having had something suitable to eat to fuel them during learning time. I see too many very young children eating sweets and drinking coke for breakfast or having nothing at all. This has a detrimental effect on their educational and social development. |
35 | I think we should have a school breakfast club, open to all pupils every day, where children can come in and sit at a table to eat a nutritious and appropriate meal. During Year 6 SATs, I run a breakfast club for Year 6 pupils providing them with wholemeal toast with a choice of spreads, fresh fruit and a choice of apple or orange juice. This undoubtedly improves the children's readiness for the day and it's great to see them sitting at tables eating with their friends, rather than going on a computer or watching TV without any social contact as most of them do at home. I would also like to see protein foods e.g. cheese, eggs, beans etc available at breakfast club - our children eat huge amounts of carbohydrates, fats, salt and sugar - and I believe they would benefit from protein at the beginning of the day. I think a daily breakfast club would have great potential to influence our children's academic and social development. The only problem is that as teachers, we have things to do before nine o'clock so any breakfast club at school in the future would have to be run by non-teaching staff or by a special team employed for the purpose. |
36 | It is easy to dismiss hunger as a parenting issue but it is too simplistic to do so. Many families are at crisis point and the problem is increasing as austerity measures bite. I am the headteacher of a school in a very socially deprived area and I very rarely encounter parents who make a conscious decision to send their children to school hungry. Instead, other factors - debt, family break up, anti-social behaviour, mental health issues, I could go on - result in a chaotic start to the day and limited funds mean that breakfast can be a low priority. For many of our children breakfast can be a bag of crisps eaten on the way to school. Free breakfast clubs in schools would help but only if based on other deprivation factors (not just free school meals). Increasing numbers of families are falling into debt and poverty, but are not entitled to free school meals. Food poverty is an increasing problem for working families. Our school hosts our community foodbank and this is an invaluable service for families when food poverty becomes food crisis kicks in. More facilities of this kind will be needed as poverty spirals (as it inevitably will). |
37 | We heavily subsidise our breakfast club and some children come for free. Hunger is a huge issue. |
38 | Parental involvement. sessions with parents on the importance of a good morning routine and breakfast time. |
39 | Pupil hunger, I suspect, is more prevalent than any of us imagine. Even reading this article made me think about some of the children in my class who are either frequently absent or often complaining of feeling sick. There's one in particular who I now believe might be suffering from hunger. We do packed lunch box checks on a regular basis to check for balanced diets and healthiness but we should perhaps start considering packed lunch size. There are always leftovers from school dinners, even if it is just a few potatoes ... perhaps we should start putting these aside for children about whom we're concerned. I think a free school breakfast would be an excellent start or even fruit the whole way through the school. I'd have to think more about this but having had my eyes opened, I certainly will. |
40 | Free school meals for all, more education/advice for parents |
41 | Improve awareness of healthy eating and the need to have good nutrition before coming to school-through parenting classes. Report parents who consistently fail to provide food, as a sign of abuse. Fund breakfast clubs, but not necessarily as part of a school's responsibility. |
42 | This is the first year ever of teaching at the same school for 11 years, that I have see children arrive with the no breakfast and simply a biscuit or piece of cake for lunch. This is a generally wealthy, middle class area and it would come as a real shock to local peopel to know that here are children who arrive at school hungry, who have an inadequate lunch and go home to spaghetti hoops. There are parents with huge outstanding school meal bills. |
43 | Any children ariving at school hungry or any children that become ill etc due to lack of food we always provide for them - usually milk and a biscuit or piece of toast. In our school it is the minority of children but there has been a increase. We are also finding that some of the parents who pay for their dinners are getting into debt and recently we have been funding meals for a family of 3 children who have got into debt. This week the child has told me that they will be going onto packed lunches. It will be interesting to see what quality and quantity their meal is. They are not the only family that this is applying too but as one of the children is in my class it has come to my notice. |
44 | For us, the issue of child hunger is exacerbated by the decision of the Local Authority to contract school meals to a "No debt," company. We now have to fund school meals for children who do not pay. The financial burden of this policy is significant and causes ongoing problems for us as we have become debt collectors - in my view this has set parents against the school and many now see us part of the problem rather than as a support. Conversely, our parent worker is able to link families to an organisation called CAP (Christians against poverty) which helps them manage their debt in a constructive way. This kind of organisation could be key to progress in this area as many families do not have the capacity to seek out support of this kind and find themselves sucked into more and more debt |
45 | Unfortuately it always ends up that schools fill in the gaps in parents responsibilites. As such I don't believe it is our responsibilty to provide breakfast though I do feel it is not the childrens fault they are hungry and we do need to feed them. BUT I AM FED UP WITH the fact that this and other governments expect schools to mollycoddle the parents and provide care/ food for the children from 8am -6pm. The parents get child allowances to help suppor tthem with bringing up their children. They choose to have the children, often have large families. I know that our parents spend their on whatever they want, DVD,s computer games, cigarettes,etc and our children do come to school hungry, having got themselves up and often got their younger brother and sisters up. They are often not clothed suitably but the parent s then go on holidays abroad/ Pontins etc. WE have gone wrong somewhere!! |
46 | As part of other symptoms it could be classed as neglect and as such social services should be involved, however i think offering all children regardless of background the chance to come into school for breakfast should be something all schools co. |
47 | Children should have their basic needs met (Maslow) before we can think of teaching them . Some children come to school without having sufficient sleep in addition to not enough food. |
48 | Avenues schools can take to address the needs of children and neglect with parents that will not engage with services. |
49 | I had a placement in a school where vulnerable children were given the opportunity to prepare and serve to each other a basic breakfast which I felt worked very well as many had little knowledge of how to prepare basic meals and they also enjoyed serving each other and clearing up. |
50 | As I work in a deprived area with an above average number of FSM. Behaviour and poverty issues seemed to be linked. The breakfast club had to be scrapped because of the inabilty of parents to pay for breakfast. The government should try and fund breakfast for children in some deprived areas so all children can start the day on an equal footing. |
51 | In SATs week we offer all pupils food and a drink before the assessments and it makes a huge difference to their concentration. Part of me feels that free breakfasts should be provided for all as it is not just free school meal children who suffer from lack of breakfast. We are always feeding certain children throughout the school and their parents seem to do nothing when it is mentioned to them. Much of this hunger is due to poor parenting skills rather than poverty and it has become a further burden on school. |
52 | I teach at a private school. We do not receive government funding for lunches and breakfasts. My solution for breakfast has been to ask parents to provide enough snacks for the entire class (16 kids this year). This means each child brings snacks about twice every month and a half. I have a handful of kids that either never bring snacks or occasionally bring snacks. It has been no problem, as I have kept back any remaining snacks - granola bars, crackers, pretzels, etc. - to serve when someone does not bring something in. This has made a positive difference in the kids' behavior and attitudes. For lunches, the school has recruited doners to provide, cook and serve hot lunches to all students (no charge) three days a week. The hope is to expand this to 5 days a week. Once a week, kids can purchase pizza slices. At a dollar a slice, this subsidizes the kids who can't pay. |
53 | as part of registration fruit or ceral bars should be made a vaiable at cost or free. As with keystage 1 fruit should be free everyday. Milk should be free to all up to 8 years |
54 | thanks for doing this survey! we see kids arriving in school washing down sweets/crisps with "yazoo"-shakes or fizzy drinks (even energy drinks) which is SOMETHING but still not good... i don't wish to patronize anybody, far from it, BUT..... we need a license to drive a car, to own a dog, for so many things, yet one of the most important jobs, perhaps THE most important, we are expected to do without ANY training whatsoever. not everyone is lucky enough to draw from their own positive experiences while growing up. i am in favour of "parent drivers' license" courses to help parents, especially from the low end of the social spectrum, to become aware of the effects of nutrition, or the lack of, on their children and their children's FUTURE. and i don't mean the odd text message, as mr C suggests, i mean a comprehensive, personalised parenting skills course, ideally done during pregnancy and continued on a less regular basis for the first year or two, to set parents up well... refreher course when kids start nursery/reception? why do we expect everyone to "know instinctively" it is NOT AN INSTINCT, there is more to it, we need positive role models.... personally i was lucky to learn of my mum, but like i say, not everyone is! and many would welcome the chance im sure. x |
55 | Child nutrition is very important problem but treated superficially. Parents, do not give importance to, food consumed by children. School where I work runs a program through which students receive bread and milk 200 g daily. |
56 | to clarify, our breakfast club only runs during SATS week and is only for Year 6 children about to sit tests. It is run voluntarily by TAs and teachers coming in early. All food juice, (toast, cereal and sausage baguettes on final day!) is paid for out of school budget or possibly by funds raised by our Friends of XXXXXXX school fundraising group. Breakfast club would be ideal at our school but I do not believe it is the duty of schools to address this issue, it is the duty of all children and family services nationwide, obviously planned at a local level by local authorities. Delivery could be via schools, or out of school clubs or via a community group using school or other community premises. As long as the children get a healthy meal before school many initiatives could be deployed to ensure need is met. OTHER FACTORS affecting LEARNING: Headaches, stomach ache, feeling sick, head on the table, almost falling asleep could also be down to the ridiculously late bedtimes many of our primary pupils have, often 10.30 or later, often early hours at the weekend. This is as serious a barrier to learning as hunger. Another issue particularly relevant this weekend was the number of children struggling to concentrate and learn whilst suffering the effects of severe sunburn. many had been out all weekend (26/27 may) with no suncream and probably no water. |
57 | We have a problem with lack of parenting skills in the UK and young mothers dont know how to cook. Summer feeding in schools would be good and I think breakfast clubs would help. |
58 | Educate the parents further about the importance of good nutrition related to growing children. Many parents send in very unsuitable packed lunches to school this needs to be addressed. Healthier food should be cheaper to buy than un healthy food. |
59 | More and more families struggle - this is very apparant here in Tower Hamlets; often young children are getting themselves ready for school, they often say they have eaten so not to embarress their familes. |
60 | If pupils were able to access a free school breakfast this would address the hunger issue. During year 6 SAT's the school provides the children with breakfast each morning, by doing this the school has seen improvements on behaviour and concentration of the children. We feel if we were able to open this up to all the children during the school year, a huge improvement on behaviour/ concentration/ ability to learn would take place |
61 | All children should have free access to breakfast club. All children (not just KS1) should have the option of free fruit and milk |
62 | Most families on very low income cannot afford to give their children a proper breakfast nor have they the money to give for breakfast club. It would be very beneficial if breakfast was supplied to children on very low income for free. This way, families would then be able to bring their children to school on time, ready to have breakfast and the children will be ready to face the day |
63 | There needs to be more fundiing in place from the Goverment for school with high numbers of children on free school meals. Yes we need to improve parenting skills but there is no point in people saying they should be fed at home because we all know that is true but in many cases it doesnt happen. Who suffers...the child! |
64 | we do offer some free breakfast places. especially the ones that have attendance problems. also we do target family's that have a lot of siblings and known to the school on benefits.we also give all our children a quarter of bagels at break time |
65 | We have a breakfast club run at a loss to enable pupils to have a meal at the start of the day. Any pupils not registered for brakfast club who arrive hungry are identified by the class teahers and we then provide food. |
66 | WE have a Nurture Room in school where children we believe to be hungry or worried can spend time in the mornings to chat to staff and be fed cereal or toast. |
67 | I understand the need to make parents accountable for raising their children. However, a school would address any aspect of poor parenting which had a negative impact on performance at school or would be a child protection issue. Therefore a great deal of responsibility rests with the school to raise this with parents and either support them through whichever agencies are appropriate or take other action. I feel that if free school breakfasts were available in the same way as free school meals then this would have a positive impact on some families and support them with attendance, punctuality etc. We have to acknowledge that some families will always be hard to reach, however much support is offered. |
68 | If children are not being provided with breakfast athome they should have an automatic place at the breakfast club. If parents do not ensure their childre are at school on time to attend breakfast club, Social Work or Education Welfare should become involved to ensure the child's needs are met. |
69 | I work in a special where pupils arrive on buses so a breakfast club would not be appropriate. But in general I don't hink that there is any doubt that if pupils have had a decent breakfast they will perform better, have better attention and greater learning. For those who need it, it is probably better to have a free brakfast than having free school meals at dinner time |
70 | closer partnerships with social care/ vol groups and shared finacial responsibilities in provision of school based service to families in need. |
71 | Reintroducing free milk along with free fruit across KS1 and 2 first thing in the morning would help. In my school it is not hunger that is the problem but what the children are eating- sugar laden cereal bars and junk food. |
72 | a) info meetings b) leaflets c) via children led assemblies d) phse emphasis on e) drama events that highlight the importance of having breakfast f) IF IT WERE POSSIBLE - MORE MEDIA COVERAGE BY LEADING PERSONALITIES. Some children, invariably girls, choose to forgo breakfast. Some say that there is insufficient time, some say their family do not breakfast whilst others are overly concerned with their weight. |
73 | Children coming to school hungry and with poor packed lunches is not only down to economics. Some of our wealthier families also provide unhealthy options and lunches that are not substantial enough for their children. Burgers, chips (cold) and crisps are regularly put in lunch boxes. A recent school survey highlighted that most of our pupils only eat fried or frozen food. It is too time consuming for staff to monitor the contents of packed lunches. School lunches should be compulsory and free to all. At least then we will know that our children are eating two healthy meals a day. |
74 | Our school is in an area of extreme need We have a free breakfast club with on average 50 pulis attending each morning. Routinely throughout the morning we can have children coming to us saying that they are hungry and have not had a breakfast. For some our children they probably didn't have a meal since their school lunch the previous day. I think all children should be entitled to free school meals. In the long term this would be cost effective. It would cut dowm on office time administering the scheme, it would help to cut down on obesity and children would be guaranteed one goog meal a day. As a school we have noticed a drop in families entitled to free school meals as more families are no longer entitled to Income Support. |
75 | Children listless and demotivated rather than disruptive. Breakfast club is great but can't be afforded by parents who most need it. Free breakfast clubs would be excellent. Milk and fruit available at break times for all children would be useful, as well as free dinner for all children (working poor often don't qualify and can't afford the price). |
76 | We run a breakfast club but the children who can't afford to eat can't afford to attend. We've had some problems with children stealing and eating other children's snacks and packed lunches. We've spoken to the children about stealing food or begging food from those with snacks. We now have to label snacks and keep them in a cupboard and keep packed lunches in the classroom. We've spoken to some parents about this and if children are hungry in the morning or don't manage to eat a breakfast, we keep a stash of snacks for them. We give out spare fruit and veg from the little ones too and these are snapped up. It shouldn't really be up to us to buy packets fo cornflakes for hungry children but we do it becasue we care about the children but we also don't want their emty-tummy behaviour to affect others' learning. We used to have a local authority nutritionist and a Healthy Schools lead to come and talk to parents about breakfast and show them how to make simple, nutritious breakfasts for their children but these posts were cut last year and now there is no support at all from the LA. These cuts have been really badly thought out and will have a long term effect on the children's wellbeing. |
77 | Schools have a duty of care over a child and any teacher should help out, where possible, to make that every child is prepared for learning.Breakfast is a very important meal and very child should be eating a healthy breakfastbefore school. This said, I do feel that feeding children is not the place or duty of any school as this is a family issue and should not be placed on the shoulders of educators. That said, any real teacher who cares sbout their job ie the children, would fInd food for that hungry child. The ditustion should then be communicated to the required people. |
78 | We offer our children food from 8am until 6pm. We also educate our children with healthy foods and introduce them to fruits and vegetables they may otherwise not be aware of. |
79 | I teach in a city school in a ks2 learning centre. There is no formal provision of food/drinks/snacks. I have approx 50% of the class who arrive hungry daily. For 30% of the class this is a real concern, lack of concentration, physical hunger, constant requests for lunch etc. I provide fruit, cereals etc regularly but management 'resent' this biting into teaching time as the very same pupils are frequently late arrivals. Catch 22... |
80 | pupils who come to school hungry generally tell us that they have had no breakfast. we as a school will provide any child who is hungry a breakfast wether it be toast or cereal. Hungry children tend not to preform well during the day. |
81 | i think all children should be able to attend breakfast club and it should be used for the less fortunate instead of some parents using it as a childminding service! I get that a very few group of parent work so need to drop their child of early bu you can see some parents just wanting their children out of there way so make them go breakfast club |
82 | Our school does not have the physical space for a breakfast club. I feel that it is not a teacher's duty to address the issues causing lack of breakfast. However, no teacher would leave a child hungry, so of course, we give the children something to eat. I work in one of the most deprived wards in the country (according to FFT & Raise) but what we are seeing is a decrease (albeit slow) in free school meals, but an increase in time-poor families. Our demographic constantly changes. The families work ethic is admirable, but the children are left unattended in the playground up to an hour before school starts, in order for parents (often single) to get to work. The children are suffering. I'd happily give them my food, but more often, they need and crave attention and affection. |
83 | I think parents do not realise the impact sending their child to school hungry has on their child not just physically but emotionally too. It is also negligence and an infringement on the rights of the child. I would make parents aware of these issues and possibly report them to social services. I think tougher measures are needed to waken parents up to the seriousness of this situation. Their expectations of teachers are high and demanding, we should also be allowed to demand more from parents and educate them in taking responsibility for their child's health and wellbeing out of school hours. The Health Service should also be involved in educating families about nutrition. |
84 | I believe it is the responsibility of the parents to ensure their child is fed. Low income families receive benefits to ensure they have money to support their family. It is not up to schools to bring up peoples children, it is getting to the state now where teachers not only teach, but discipline, feed and show children how to use manners. This should be the parents. |
85 | Poverty is at the root of the issue with so many families living on benefits and those same families often display poor parenting skills. |
86 | Frre breakfasts ahould be available within breakfasts clubs. Primary schools teach the importance of eating breakfast but it should not be part of the schools responsibility to police it. That should be the job of social services/ health visitors. Please do not expect schools to sort out all of societies ills. |
87 | Lack of breakfast is not always due to lack of income - working parents (with well paid jobs)often don't have time to negotiate children eating breakfast. At our school, children arrive by bus at a range of times so a breakfast club is not viable. Early Years & KS1 children have the benefit of the gov funded fruit for tuck - it seems very harsh that that opportunity is not available for KS2 pupils. |
88 | nowhere in this questionnaire does it state that you have to be a resident of the UK! This issue is world wide! so please disregard my place of residence as I had to choose one to continue. |
89 | i think that all the children should be entitled to a fruit snack at break - i dont understand why this ends at year 3 i also think free breakfasts are a good idea for those who should be entitled to it |
90 | Educate the parents more. |
91 | Continue Free School Meals and breakfast clubs but involve parents so that they can see the importance of healthy eating |
92 | I do support the idea of every school having a Breakfast Club as I have seen ours grow in popularity over the five years we have had it and seen the benefits for working parents and neglected children but the parenting issue really needs to be addressed too. We are picking up the pieces of parents not capable or too lazy to look after their children. |
93 | Use of data regarding vulnerable children is essential. Also, creating an opportunity to raise pupil voice so that it can be established whether hunger is an issue or not, monitoring pupils in the dining hall provides additional knowledge. Once pupils have been identified then it is key to act upon the possible solutions. The approach we have taken in my school is to provide a mid morning snack for our older pupils in order to combat hunger pangs betweeen breakfast and lunch. |
94 | We don't really see many examples of pupil hunger at our school. It is a rural school and most families seem to be able to fed their children well and regularly. |
95 | The majority of our children who arrive to school hungry are in fact older, some of the girls will skip breakfast as a means of weight control and this then has to be addressed. Younger children will tell us that 'mummy had no milk, bread etc. During the past few weeks (with warmer weather) children have been coming to school having eaten a packet of crisps. If a child does tell a member of staff they are hungry the child is provided with a breakfast, which consist of several pieces of fruit. Our Learning Mentor will then make some enquires to see if the family need any assistance to help provide breakfast. |
96 | n/a |
97 | We would always offer a breakfast . and observe them at lunch time . We would also report the issue to our child welfare officer . |
98 | Children AND parents need to understand the impact a poor diet can have on their ability to concentrate, learn effectivitely, communicate and to feel positive and good! Many parents in our community need to increase their understanding of what is a nutritious breakfast and why it is needed. However, this is becoming yet another significant duty for school's to undertake! Parents in our community can be very hard to engage and so there is no simple answer to this problem! |
99 | It is also important to support the working parents who are finding diffcult paying the breakfast club - full pay. |
100 | The British government should follow the lead of the Welsh Assembly and provide a free breakfast for all primary age children. |
101 | This is not a problem that is going to just go away, it must be addressed. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds do not have the same opportunity to learn and make progress if they cannot concentrate because they are hungry. We can make a difference and as teachers we need to stand together and do something about this for the benefit of all our pupils. |
102 | Working as I do with children with severe behavioural problems, when I go into their homes many parents have little or no understanding about Healthy Eating. I have been trying to find funding so that we can facilitate parent / child cooking classes at our primary PRU. I believe we need to be teaching children how to cook and perform basic domestic tasks age appropriate, at primary level continuing on into senior level and that encouraging parents to come into schools and work with their children is the way forward. So many meetings where parents are criticised for not having clean homes, cooking healthy food is often due to lack of knowledge. Many parents also cannot read and therefore even if cleaning products or new foods are introduced have no idea how to use them and are uncomfortable asking. |
103 | better parenting! |
104 | Predominately boys and within families where parents do not eat breakfast or see the importance |
105 | More action needs to be taken against negligent parents by child support/protection personnel. In my school we can refer problems like this to a worker who comes in once a week and will follow things like this up at home. Often it is lack of organisation on the part of parents who fail to ensure a good start to the day for their child (work commitments or oversleeping often to blame). Some children have to get themselves ready. I can't see a link to economic factors for all children. The take up of free school meals is low in my area. This is partly because there is an big economic mix and some poorer parents want to avoid the stigma (despite it being only the teachers who know). |
106 | Children should be eligable for Free School Breakfast, as this is the most important start to the day. |
107 | We already use Pupil premium funding to secure Breakfast Club spaces during term time for children receiving free school meal places.We are now looking into providing wrap around care during the school holidays, especially for free school meal children to increase their experiences and prevent possible anti social behaviour and a deterioration in behaviour. |
108 | We have a large amount of FSM 60%. We have a breakfast club that costs 50p a day and free on a friday- many don't pay. I has about 35-40 pupils each day. It cost me far m,ore than this to staff it and have resources but is really necessary. |
109 | Parents of those who appear hungry are not getting up in time to send the children to breakfast club. It is often used by working parents as a child minding service before school begins. Children from families known to social services are generally not using this service. |
110 | I teach in Australia, so my answer for the UK location is NOT relevant because an answer had to be provided |
111 | Breakfast club currently only targets working parents who can pay for the service - there should be an opportunity for all children to access enough to eat in the morning - especially the veryneedy ones |
112 | Children are often hungry throughout the morning - I do think all primary children should be offered fruit throughout the day - they run around during lunch times often in very hot weather in the summer and often in quite cold weather in winter, The school day places a lot of demands on them and they need to keep their energy levels up |
113 | We need a government who will lisen and genuinely try to understand what it is like to live in poverty. |
114 | We have children who i give any spare milk or left over fruit to every day as a matter of course. We keep cereal in school for occasions when a child discloses no breakfast and have a conversation with the parents as to the fact that little johnny was hungry, we also check with sibling. Free school breakfasts would certainly stop some persistent abscence problems. |
115 | Lot of parents seem unable to organise food supplies in their homes and the children are the ones who suffer. Money is in short supply in some homes, but cigarettes and drink hold a higher priority for some parents. We also see poor standards in lunch boxes and have to make frequent calls to parents to rectify this. Breakfast club makes a big difference, but some children still come to school hungry. |
116 | It is not just a state school issue. Children in fee paying indie schools also come to school under or poorly nourished. Schools must demand from parents that they be responsible. Provide parent education opportunities including cookjing lessons for parents, lists of suggested food items and recipes. Budgeting classes and peer support for parents also helps |
117 | Responsibility must lie with parents. Parents need to be educated about nutrition and supported. Those who are not providing adequate food need to be monitored and eventually sanctioned. |
118 | All too often children tell me they feel sick or show signs of tiredness and as a consequence they are not concentrating on lessons. I always keep plain biscuits in school which I give to the children; this has to be done discretely to ensure the children are not embarrased. A parent makes toast every morning which we sell cheeply, togeter with fruit Again, if we notice a child is hungry we will just give them toast or I will give them money to buy something. The most difficult thing is to spot hungry children because some of them are too proud to let you know their problems. One option is to provide free fruit for all school pupils. |
119 | Make it easier to claim free school meals. Parents who work even for a small wage can not always claim. |
120 | I'd liek to see better education in schools to children parents and carers to work together to realise the importance of regular balanced, meals and social interation at mealtimes. More prctical inmteractive education should be available |
1 | Please tell us any thoughts you have on the issue of pupil hunger and solutions you would take to address it. |
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2 | Students now expect to be fed regularly. The idea that three good meals a day is healthy now seems to be a thing of the past. Some children would eat all the time, every day, if they could. Some students think it is an obligation of the school to feed them. It isn't we are primarily an educational establishment NOT a catering facility. It is noticable how many students arrive at school "high" on cheap sugary sweets and drinks. Breakfast should not be a 2 litre bottle of Coke!! |
3 | Not only are students hungry but they also eat the wrong foods - locts of sugar and sweets. We are running a healty eating course to address some of these issues. Food in our canteen is also healty chips only on Friday no salt. |
4 | There has to be recognition that the problem exists at all levels. It is not just a social class issue - more families in former middle class brackets are being affected. I see the queue for meals at our school restaurant increase dramatically on the first day back after holidays. It is clear that students are grazing at home maybe taking the edge off hunger whilst on holiday with small snacks. Back at school they appear to enjoy the oportunity to choose . FSM students also appreciate the return to a regular meal. We have to make eating breakfast a social event that matters to students. In the Primary School for which I responsibility breakfast club is oversubscribed and has had a significant impact on learning skills including social skills. One young 7 year old wakes mum up so he can go to Breakfast Club - he did not enjoy school at all before this. |
5 | I think that this will all be under the same banner as health ed on smoking and sex, but I believe parents and pupils should be educated in the physiological impact on their ability to function with out food.# Breakfast should be seen as the main meal of the day. Most adults get this wrong, hence the rise in obesity and as they model it to their children the problem becomes generational. Nanny state?! We should have a nanny state if parents continue behave like children. |
6 | Without a doubt it is the governemtns responsibility to ensure that all children are fed. Rather than give money to parents that is clearly not spent on food, give it to schools to ensure the children get at least 2 good meals a day. I would expect a reduction in child benefit to the parents whose children are entitled to free school breakfasts and meals. |
7 | Free school breakfasts... Excellent idea. Most important meal of the day. |
8 | Additional food assistance needs to be provided to families who are either not working or are on low incomes in the form of food stamps for basic items such as past, rice, bread etc. |
9 | Ensure that Food and Nutrition classes are taught throughout the key stages. That design tech departments recieve funding for core ingredients with a high profile on making skills and money management in relation to providing food for a family and for themselves. The old days of Home Economics teaching should be refected on and developed into a strong life long learning skill. |
10 | I don't see hunger as such but I do see a lot of children eating a very poor diet or not eating enough. One girl in my form (year 10) is obviously underweight, small for her age, yet rarely eats her packed lunch. The sandwich is always made from cheap white bread, with a paste or cheese spread filling. By the time lunch arrives, it is squashed flat. Very unappetizing. Her father accuses her of stealing from the fridge (how could a parent consider this stealing?!). I think he buys nicer food for himself and gives her the cheapest of cheap. Very sad to see. I think maybe you should address the working poor issue - the girl's parents are both working and not claiming benefits - I think these students are probably struggling just as much, if not more, than students on free school meals. |
11 | I think there should be more options avilable for schools and individual teachers to help students who don't eat lunch or breakfast. In my school we are having funding cut and things like breakfast clubs are the first things to suffer. I have noticed that year 9 - 11 reguarly do not eat lunch and it is not monitored or enforced by our school. I think it should be. |
12 | Channels of funding/sposorship or guidance for schools to establish breakfast clubs |
13 | Anyone involved teaching children of families surviving on benefits or in minimum wage work can clearly see the effect on children's health. Purchasing healthy groceries on such incomes is very hard, let alone taking into account the ability to get to shops etc on busses, and the costs involved with that. The solutions is/are probably some kind of food stamps, redeemable only on certain basic items. It sounds Dickensian or like a war-era mentality, but that appears to be where we are politically at the moment. SHould schools feed children a good breakfast? Probably, but there's no will amongst overburdened teachers to consider the extra duties involved... |
14 | increase FSM to allow them to spread this across breakfast club and or break improve quality of meals in school. We have excellent meals all good on site and never chips! |
15 | I think it is a remarkable, shameful factor in education and society and one which should be urgently addressed. We have seen how schools in the poorest areas are deemed 'failing' and either forced to turn into academies (which deal with none of the problems and often compound them with the rigidity of their structure and focus on 'achievement'; as well as excluding pupils who most need help); or put through punitive Ofsted measures in a seeming attempt to break any teaching spirit. I am ashamed to have sat through this process, fighting a rearguard action on behalf of children who needed care, not 'special measures'. Melissa Benn in her latest book 'School Wars' makes interesting and valuable points, but in a Radio 4 interview I heard her repeat the meme that, in our system 'the poorest children get the poorest education'. As a grammar school child, followed by Oxbridge, who has now taught in two inner city secondary schools, I can vouch for the fact that this is simply not true. My education differed substantially from the education on offer in the schools I've taught in, but not because of the teachers. Every school has good and bad teachers. It differed because we were not inspected by Ofsted every year. Teachers were not put under insane pressure, either by this, or by the increasing requirement to prepare lessons by the minute in advance. They saw lessons as a flow between teacher and class. Grades were simple and clear: A through to F - unlike the ridiculously detailed, robotic system today, everyone, including the children, could understand them. There was a proper lunch hour in which everyone could relax. Unlike many schools in the inner city, there were water fountains across the school (the lack of water is as important a factor as food in concentration) and, because it was a middle class area, few if any of us went to school hungry. If we had, school meals consisted of a proper canteen, and pudding, whereas at my last school children (and the tax payer) were paying up to £3 for a small, unsatisfying plastic pot of pasta which they would eat standing up in the short time available. My solutions: a breakfast club, as at my first school, but serving something more substantial than jam with toast - cheese, perhaps, as in Germany. Water fountains across the school - concentration decreases by 20 percent when a child is dehydrated. A return to the lunch *hour*, not a snatched forty minutes, most of which is taken up with queuing for food, and a proper two course meal. And a general realisation of the problems of poverty and a willingness on the part of the management team to be *kind* - not just to see children as a way of improving their own careers or the status of their school. The increasing tendency towards authoritarianism and punishment actually works against them. But still, they drive themselves, their staff and pupils on, sometimes with bullying and threats, without realising that many of the solutions are quite simply human. |
16 | There needs to be education to parents as to what a reasonable breakfast entails. A lot of our parents believe that a couple of sweets or chocolate bars constitute a reasonable meal. Worse is the issue of parents giving children dinner money, who then spend it in the supermarket on the way to school. Children are regularly educated about healthy meals etc, but it's hard to shake the habits of irregular and inconsistent meal times at home. It's not the school's responsibility to feed a child before their day begins, but it's unavoidable. Leaving hungry children to starve is inhuman, and it should be a top priority for the Government. |
17 | Breakfast clubs make a big difference. Also encouraging children/parents to understand what makes a good breakfast (not sweets/crisps/coke) and to have breakfast. |
18 | Monitoring what is happening , try and help, talk to the student see what is going , and if so help In the best way you can , give then food |
19 | I think that in most areas of society, but particularly when it comes to the welfare of children, everybody has a responsibility to ensure that everyone else is looked after, and that everyone has access to the basic things they need to survive. In other words, we all have a duty of care to each other. Teachers' duty of care is formalised and is statutory, so yes, it is incumbent on us to ensure that young people are fed. To refuse this is to punish the child, and ultimately ourselves, in the futile gesture of 'making a point'. There should be no need for teachers to fulfil this role of food provider. It seems to me that society is centralising the roles previously fulfilled by families into schools. Those family units should be supported as much as possible - and that support may not be financial. We should have more flexible working patterns for mothers and fathers, to ensure that young people are able to have breakfast and dinner with their families. Communities should be able to engage with their schools and go into them - if that pattern suits - so families can join with other families and have a shared breakfast time. We need to look after our young. We owe it to them, regardless of any social climate - prosperous or austere, to ensure that they have everything they need to grow and reach their potential. |
20 | The key issue is often a lack of awareness about food, a child will often arrive at school with a can of energy drink as their breakfast, they only have a certain amount of money for food and it will be spent on drinks like these on the way to school rather than on the toast, bacon sandwiches etc available in school. Unfortunately it feels like big brother but as with school dinners if we want to control older students eating at breakfast then the money needs to go straight to schools and be given as a coupon for the dining room. However, this may mean that students choose not to eat their paid for breakfast. |
21 | I think that raising awareness of the issue and informing students through effective PSHE/PE/Food tech lessons about the importance of eating regularly will be useful. |
22 | Link up with local food banks to provide groceries and cookery classes to local parents. |
23 | The problem is not the lack of food as such, but the food on offer which is high in sugar and fat and doesn't not have complex carbohydrates. |
24 | Some working parents can find themselves rushed in the mornings and children do not get fed - others find it difficult to get themselves up for a variety of reasons and get children fed and ready for school on time. Later night watching television/playing computer games can often be one factor of tiredness and then inability to concentrate and bad behaviour at school the next day. We are not with children at home but identifying and then supporting parents, particular of those children who have behaviour problems at school, and which co-incides with children not in bed at a reasonable hour, or those with money management problems, will go someway towards helping their children to become better assimilated at school. Breakfast clubs, free lunches and compulsory 'after-school' activities should be available to all children, particularly those who might have problems 'conforming to acceptable behaviour patterns in class', and especially to those of one-parent and/or immigrant families where such activities will provide them with more access to the spoken language in a variety of settings. |
25 | There is only a small breakfast club at school at the moment and I feel more students would use it if it was advertised more within the school. Nutrition is also an issue as many parents don't realise that they can create healthy, nutritious meals on a budget. More funding needs to be able within schools to address this issue with the families of our students. |
26 | It is not a major problem in our school so can usually be addressed on a pupil by pupil basis. The issue is compounded by older students (usually girls) who skip breakfast in order to diet or because they get up late. Our school has an annual 'Healthy Breakfast' day where we all have beakfast together and education about the improtance of a healthy breakfast goes on. This is reinforced informally throughout the year. A further step would be to include parents in the programme. |
27 | I think ALL children should qualify for free school meals as there are a lot of children who only JUST don't qualify and don't eat as they don't tell any one. For a lot of parents although they don't qualify for free school meals they still don't have enough money to send their child to school with lunch money. i also think that free fruit should be available at break times |
28 | It a sad day when schools are having to operate as charities in place of a negligent government. |
29 | At secondary age it is not Always because breakfast is not provided at home. Girls often don't eat breakfast, I know I didn't at 14 and it was always offered in my house. Boys go to bed too late and get up late and rush out the door. Yes parents should be getting up and getting kids fed and out the door, certainly until they leave school, but the truth is many parents are relieved when they get to secondary school and the kids can get themselves up and out the door! Many parents work and leave the house before our pupils so they don't know! In an ideal world they would have time to sort them out... It may be time the schools started educating pupils on why breakfast is so important! But parents should already have done that... It's not an easy answer. But certainly if a pupils family is eligeble for free dinner at school breakfast should be included. |
30 | Often the problem is with teenage girls who come to school without breakfast. I don' t think these pupils would attend a breakfast club - forgoing breakfast seems to be a choice for them, rather than going without food because the family can't afford it. |
31 | We have a very high percentage of children who are entitled to free school meals at my school, however they rarely use the canteen and most children opt to go out into town and get a Dominos, McDs, Subway..... I think that the lack of breakfast is more due to the fact that they ar not being given food and that there is little care and no parental support given, which is extremely sad. A breakfast club would be good - however i am not sure that the kids that actually NEED to be there would ever actually be there. |
32 | I think as a School teacher it is our duty to ensure that the pupils in our classroom are not feeling unwell due to hunger. Schools should ask teachers to pay attention to any sign or attitude from a student that would mask a hunger problem. If we are to ensure their well-being, we have to ensure that they are starting the day with milk and some bread. |
33 | duty of care for schools to ensure children are fit and ready to learn - cuts down on behaviour issues breakfast clubs with free meals for those in need or vouchers (no cash) have breakfast biscuits available for the starving / late banning of energy drinks / fizzy drinks /sugary fruit drinks have tea / coffee / hot chocolate / soup available banning of commercial crisps / chocolate / sweets healthy alternatives - fruit / homemade cake - biscuits - nutritious sandwiches / wraps / pitta bring back one choice home made granny type hot stodge - suet puddings rock !! more vegetarian options bring back free school milk !!! |
34 | Certainly in the school where I am currently teaching, one of the major reasons for children coming in without breakfast is bad parenting. Often their parents are on benefits and are still in bed when their children leave for school. Also, a significant number of pupils, even as young as Y7, are staying up late either watching TV or playing video games and so getting up at the last minute with no time for breakfast. It is my opinion that breakfast clubs should be re-established at schools. This would ensure that students got something to eat in the morning and actually had something more nutritious than a chocolate bar or a packet of crisps and an energy drink to start the day. Actually, I would like to see 'breakfast time' at schools as well as lunch time - not only will this offer a good, healthy start to the day, it would promote the idea of breakfast itself, something which appears to be disappearing fast from modern life. But this all takes money, which schools don't have. Also, you can show a kid a healthy breakfast but some of them will still want the chocolate bar or packet of crisps. Education of a healthy lifestyle is a vital part of the problem - education not only directed towards young people but increasingly towards their parents as well. |
35 | Pupils come to school hungry because they haven't eaten breakfast. They eat chocolate, crisps or other junk food on the way to school or when they arrive as a substitute for something like cereal, fruit and toast. It probably costs them more to buy their breakfast than if they ate something better at home. Some teachers don't eat until they get to school. This is a poor model for students. |
36 | Pupil hunger, in my experience of working in schools over the last 3 years, is not just the result of relative economic poverty. It is also due to time poverty. I have worked in schools where children have to leave their homes at 7am to catch a school bus and even though their parents give them breakfast by breaktime they have been without food for over 3 hours. If they miss the snack bar at break by lunchtime they are ravenous and unable to concentrate. I would advocate that children should have access to food on arrival at school and at break time on a 'free school meals' basis (for those in economic poverty) and at reasonable cost for those who are time poor. |
37 | issue particularly affects children of migrants in my current school in my last, those of the poor- and there were many who mgiht fit that category (work in Bradford) |
38 | THe free school breakfasts is a great idea, but with food available for all kids. |
39 | I think some of the causes are also due to the fact that these pupils come from needy families whose purchase ability is very low and their wages do not fit with inflations on the market. This is why they are malnourished. The solutions I would take is to give free breakfasts and free meals . |
40 | Many pupils get themselves up because parents are already out at work, some because they stay asleep in bed. Pupils get free school meals but only lunch. It should include breakfast. |
41 | pupil hunger affects learning and growth so they need to eat a healthy, balanced diet. if schools are to provide breakfast, that would help, but someone has to pay and is it fair to put that burden onto the tax payer? Giving students the opportunity to get 'brunch' at break time would help. |
42 | I work at a very affluent school so it is very difficult to spot such problems. But I worked in the USA a couple of years ago and free breakfast was provided for students at risk or coming from low income homes. |
43 | There is always a stash of cereal bars in my bag at school - I've come to think of them as essential, along with board pens and my planner. People think of the little ones when we think of child hunger but this really affects teenagers too (especially as they need a lot of calories at that age!) The first thing I say to a child with their head on the desk in my lesson is "what have you eaten today?" and after a bit of "oh, I can't remember" the answer is almost always "nothing." It's a really sad situation. The intake of my school is fairly middle class but a lot of these families are now struggling financially (for perhaps the first time,) yet unwilling to apply for free school meals or other assistance either because of the stigma or because, having never needed to before, they don't know how. School dinners are expensive too - I've regularly seen kids sharing a bread roll for lunch and this isn't because they're saving their money for chocolate bars or cigarettes on the way home; our school has cashless catering and parents are supposed to be adding money to their accounts but can't. In an ideal world school breakfasts would be free for all through to age 16. Cereal (or cereal bars,) toast, fruit, juice and milk. I don't know how much it would cost but whatever, surely it would be worth it. In a really super ideal world school breakfasts and lunches would be free for all. On a related note - the other thing that I've noticed more and more of is children in dire need of new shoes. Kids in beat up primark pumps that are a size too small. You can spot them because they quietly slip their feet halfway out of their shoes as soon as they sit down at their desk. I had a year 7 with bleeding feet a couple of weeks ago because her shoes were far too small. |
44 | Breakfast clubs would be part of the answer but it is generally the breakdown of the family and parenting skills which leads to children being hungry. |
45 | As mentioned previously, addressing some issues through PSHCE lessons is a must but students coming to school without breakfast is also an issue for parents to address. Sending children with money to buy sweets, crisps etc is not good parenting and yet again parents are picking up the pieces of lack of parenting skills. Although I have ticked to say we have a breakfast club,it isn''t a club as such, it is the school canteen that opens to serve toast, crumpets, coffee, tea but also buns! Whilst a number of student do use this, it is only a small amount, I see more drinking pop and eating chocolate, crisps or sweets, none of which is conducive to good learning. I would like to see schools offering more in the way of healthy meal/breakfast choices, but I would also like schools to have the confidence to ban junk food from site. I know this would be very difficult to police but it is a step in the right direction |
46 | Subsidised breakfast club at secondary schools Greater importance in curriculum on food and health. |
47 | it is part of a wider issue |
48 | Breakfast clubs are a very good option. One issue we have is that in a rural area many students arrive on buses and are unable to participate in breakfast club. A possible system of credits that allow students to get a healthy snack at breaktime or possibly providing snacks with other activities such as morning reading may help. I know for some students that buy their free meal at breaktime, staff have offered to split the meal and keep half safe for lunch. Offering good quality food and lots of options in the canteen is important as well as raising staff awareness of the issues. I think that pride often plays a role in participation in many schemes (ie not signing up to breakfast clubs) so I think our solution of making free breakfast available to all means that there is no stigma and nobody in need (ie the marginal students who don't meet fsm criteria) will miss out. There is a wider problem in society - I think that instead of stopping/reducing benefits the government should possibly switch some to food vouchers - to be used in major supermarkets and to be spent on food only (this could help in those families where any money coming in is spent on alcohol/cigarettes/drugs). Possibly vouchers for clothing in a similar vein. Stopping disability/ESA is also a concern - how are people with medical problems supposed to get back into work when there are 10 unemployed people for every job advertised in our area? The strain on families has a huge impact on childrens ability to thrive. |
49 | Food technology is a constant source of strain for hungry children. No ingredients, sharing with others... Has awful effect on their self esteem. I bring extra for my form when they have it and reward pupils who remember to share/bring extra AND not make a big deal of it. |
50 | as we have a moneyless system for school meals at school, the free school meals pupils are able to se their 'money' at breakfast club and/or at lunch. this has had a massively positive affect on some of the students. |
51 | I have no evidence whatsoever of children being hungry - if anything the reverse is true. |
52 | The free school meals process should extend to breakfasts and schools should be provided with extra funding to provide these extra meals. |
53 | As I said in a previous response, my school has already taken radical steps to address pupil hunger issues. We provide all students with a free breakfast every day, including fruit, cereal and juice. Healthy eating is of paramount importance at the Academy and our restaurant is highly impressive. The reason pupil hunger is taken so seriously is because the Academy serves one of the most deprived council estates in the North of England. We see the effects of malnourishment on the students we teach. I do wonder, however, whether schools in more advantaged communities take the problem as seriously as we do. Just because students may not look pale and unhealthy it doesn't mean that they're not malnourished. |
54 | for such a 'simple' problem its effects can manifest in so many ways. my main role is pastoral support, this includes attendance and behaviour and identification of need for vunerable students. Often missing breakfast is an indicator of many other issues and should not be discarded as an issue on its own. the biggest challenge is engaging the parents who themselves are often marginalised in the community. parental issues are shown to be the cause in many cases of students who are malnourised, be it parenting skills, mental health, substance misuse or lack of prioritising skills. it is difficult to find a way to enfoce accountability of parents without further marginilising them. we try very hard to support parents identified in a constructive way. this is often difficult as some of these parents are already struggling with their own self esteem and further 'critisism' can be counterproductive. 'support' meetings covering issues such as attendance, punctuality, behaviour, general concerns can allow the issues to be discussed non judgementally and the parent to feel they have an element of control in suggested change. |
55 | I am a manager of a provision for "disaffected" year 11's who are on the verge of being permanently exclueded from main stream school. When i have carried out surveys with the young people i have discovered that 90% of them do not eat breakfast - reasons given i) no food in the house ii) did not wake up on time iii) can't be bothered iv) don't like breakfast foods so eat crips and chocolate poor parenting, lack of money and lack of family togetherness are the main causes we support the young people to recognise their own behaviour, attitude towards learning and concentration when they do not eat breakfast to enable them to try to rememdy the problem we have fruit, water bottles and now have started a breakfast club - toast, hot drinks etc this has a massive impact on their engagement with learning and behaviour with peers |
56 | I beleive that schools shouls all offer a breakfast club which should be free at point of use. Coming from a school that suffers from much social deprivation I see first hand the affects of a poor diet on the education and wellbeing of our children. Schools should offer a safe and inclusive environment in which all needs are catered for. Similarly break times should include a free healthy snack to keep children functioning until lunchtime. |
57 | A lot of children come to school hungry by choice - because they are too lazy to eat, or are running late. Some prioritise playing a sport in the morning over eating. My school offers free breakfast to pupils who arrive before 8.30am. This encourages them to arrive at school on time, and they can eat cereal and/or a full English breakfast, with free hot chocolate as well. This has worked well for a lot of pupils, but there are those that just do not see breakfast as an important meal and so they choose to go hungry. This affects their performance and behaviour. In this case, schools should be more proactive in educating parents about the importance of their children having a good breakfast. Many parents themselves are not well educated and/or do not have time to make sure their children are eating. Making them aware of how being hungry or unhealthy eating affects their children will make a positive difference to a lot of families. |
58 | it is absolutely heartbreaking but very difficult to deal with given the confusion over whether the school should be responsible for the issue. It cannot and should not be dealt with by individual teachers as then the issue itself is not being addressed at the roots. |
59 | Students not being provided with a square breakfast before school, often a square meal after school and potentially little or no lunch or lunch money is a significant issue. Some of the results of this include students drinking far too many energy drinks and being 'hyper'; I know girls who are not eating enough or often enough who tell me they feel sick at the sight of food / just don't want to eat / can't eat in front of boys, etc... It's very sad. There is a breakfast club, but only before 'important' exams, for those students sitting them. |
60 | I guess most of those you've proposed indirectly during the survey are quite efficient. We should all take conscience of a problem happening worldwide. Teachers, parents and Institutions should realise their part of responsability in all that. |
61 | I feel that parents are ultimately responsible for the care of their childrena nd they should ensure that children are properly fed and nurished especially in the mornings before coming to school. Unfortunatley, due to the cost of living and cuts in benefits, many families struggle to provide the essentials for their children. I think that parents should be offered support and training in a non threatening and non invasive way to help them cope with the challenges of rearing children and setting a budget which ensure the essentials for living are provided. |
62 | I am unsure about whether it is a schools responsibility to host free school breakfasts. I understand that school may be a form of security for some young people, however sould this not be a government or social work problem? If a family cannot afford to feed their children it doesnt say much for our government if they are allowing our children to starve. With the cutbacks in schools already high, will this not provide a further expense to schools? I think the pastoral care of students is a priority for every teacher I know however without similar support outside the school environment are we fighting a losing battle? |
63 | parents to be responsible for their child's wellbeing; a slich of toast doesn't cost much |
64 | Last 2 q'S interesting. Where free school dinners are given - there may be a need for school breakfasts However I do feel increasing pressures on schools to be the solution for another social problem. Teachers are receiving cuts, extra workloads; schools are receiving cuts and being asked to overstretch delapidated and insufficient resources. The education sector and teaching profession are being undermined, and status being marginalised - but at the same time being held to account for childrens' behaviours, and now eating patterns. Parents clearly need to be targetted much more and their responsibilities towards their children addressed, with them being held much more accountable . |
65 | Many students choose not to come to school haven eaten breakfast - not sur austerity is the main problem - much more a problem of children not sitting down to have breakfast with a parent in the morning, no role models, absent parent etc. Some of our poorer parents give the children money to buy something on the way into school which children then spend on sweets and fizzy drinks, because that is what they can buy early in the morning in a rural community. |
66 | Free breakfast clubs national strategy. Ours is only on 3 mornings a week and sponsored by Kellogg's |
67 | For the time being (because of the austerity), the main problem regarding the pupils' nutrition in my area (Crete, island in south part of Greece) is more the breakfast quality which is decreasing (junk food costs less than quality food) than pupils come without breakfast at all. Some schools have initiated food collection actions to support low income families but the number of these families has not increased significantly compared to 5 years ago. The forthcoming problem is that middle class families although can still cope with everyday needs by using their savings it’s very likely for them to face serious financial problems in near future. Government’s social infrastructures are becoming weaker day by day and I think the main resource of addressing the pupil hunger will be the local communities (families, neighbors and schools). |
68 | Often parents' solution is just to give them some money which is then spent on buying unhealthy food (sausage baguette, energy drinks etc.) before school. They then do not have money for lunch which affects the afternoon lessons. I would like to see more done to prevent children making poor choices - but I don't know how this is solved other than through education of parents/child!!! |
69 | I work for a small team supporting the education of looked after children - we take them out of school / work with them in school. If they are hungry we buy them food and inform carers. Free school breakfasts would be good as our young people often spend thier dinner money on cigarettes. |
70 | I work in Madrid, Spain at a school for the more privaledged. Hunger is not an issue, but non-breakfasted kids is. |
71 | Most of the problems that we encounter are not from hunger but from poor diet. The pupils eating too many sweet things and drinking fizzy, sweet or sports drinks. We notice changes in behaviour patterns as lunchtime approaches, concentration deteriorates and poor behaviour can result |
72 | As indicated in previous responses- |
73 | Our pupils are picked up by taxi to get to school. Parents do not have the skills to get breackfast as well. Some dont seem to care. our pupils can not get it for themselves. |
74 | The problem is far more prevalent in lower ability groups where there is a high proportion of FSM children. It's also more noticeable in students from large families. Some will actively say they can't work/learn because they are too hungry. Others are too embarrassed and either just wilt, say they are ill or misbehave. It's difficult to find affordable solutions in these austere times but I find Tesco iced buns at 75p for a pack of 6 go quite a long way. |
75 | Parents seem to be combatting this sometimes by giving the children cheap junk food which also has a detrimental effect on behaviour. Although schools care, many parents seem to be offloading their parental responsibility onto us and it is not our responsibility, we have already had enough offloaded onto us. |
76 | Firstly, I would like to point out that as we are a virtual school, many of these issues are not apparent or solvable in our infrastructure. However, we do see the effects of hunger in our lessons, as pupils may go out to get food mid morning, taking them away from the learning environment. As we have no physical presence with the students, we can not prevent this. If the students are accessing lessons from home, we allow students to eat whatever they need, as long as they are still "present" in the class, and responding appropriately. In "real" schools, like my last school, where there is a larged proportion of students taking free school meals, there is an obvious link between poor nutrition and behaviour / attainment in the early part of the day, until the students get a mid morning snack. I believe that it would be in the interests of all schools if free breakfasts were provided, even if it is just a couple of slices of toast first thing. This would need to be managed appropriately though, as often the most vulnerable students are the ones arriving late to school, so they either miss the breakfast, or end up being even later to lessons. |
77 | Better parenting education from a young age. |
78 | I think the worse thing is pupils arriving at school without breakfast but had 1 or more energy drinks on their way in. Energy drinks should be subjected to the same regulations as alcohol or tobbacco |
79 | I believe that before any test, assessment or examination the school should offer free breakfast to students, even if its unable to at other times |
80 | My experience of this phenomenon is purelyanecdotal on a small sample of stucents. There does seem to be a problem about students diet generally and the cases of them coming to school poorly prepared and fed means that they do not perform well soon run out of energy ang loose focus.In another part of this unit they do run a breakfast club but I am not aware that it has any effect as so few of their students avail themselves of it. Ultimately this should be down to parents providing a decent start to their children's day but speaking from my own experience this is not easy and I despair for their future if they continue with so little knowledge and interest in what they eat. |
81 | It's not a school's business. If parents can't be bothered to feed their children properly, it's not for teachers to take on that role. |
82 | More education for parents about the effects of hunger on the education and behaviour of their children and others. We know that it should be obvious to everyone, but some parents lack the social skills or intelligence to address the topic. |
83 | Having come from a sheltered, middle class background into teaching I was genuinely shocked when pupils would ask to finish food I had been eating rather than my throw it away and would ask for fruit or biscuits to stave off hunger. Breakfast clubs help but only if they are affordable and not if kids are being bused into school as in our (grammar school) case. We have cases where they could have fsm but parents are incapable of applyingn/ unwilling to apply. It is not possible for students to learn effectively if they are too hungry / thirsty / cold. We must fix this. |
84 | The parents are the main problem. The school is taking over the parents' responsibility and therefore the parents feel more and more out of touch with their kids. |
85 | More information available for parents about nutritional needs of children - given from the time the mother is pregnant but to follow through later life stages not just for the imminent birth |
86 | Breakfast should not, properly, be the concern of schools- but the fact is that children do not learn when they are hungry and some do not eat between one lunch and the next. I think a free school breakfast would help to address this problem. |
87 | This is another parenting issue and needs to be dealt with by parents. Parenting classes would help maybe. |
88 | I recently covered a Year 8 French class, topic Le Petite Dejouner (Breakfast). Upon asking a particuarly disruptive student what he had had for breakfast that morning his reply was 'I will get a bacon roll from the canteen at break, as normal.' After allowing him to eat two bananas that I had bought in for lunch his behaviour and our relationship improved substantially. After reporting this to our Pastoral Head I have neen given temporary funding for a 20 place breakfast arrangement providing cereal and juice the success or otherwise to be reported back before the summer holidays. While it is early days to comment on academic improvement the behaviour in my lessons and my relationship with the students have both shown positive recognition for my involvement. While discussing improvements one cannot help but become aware of how socially disadvantaged these students are not to have a regular breakfast and to rely on school for their meals. However it is the parents and carers who must be educated in providing for their children. Thus, a breakfast club alone will not solve the problem, neither can the school standing alone. The actions that we have taken and I expect to implement post September will benefit the students and hence improve the school but will not dent the problems they face as they pass through the school gates in the afternoon. |
89 | As previously mentioned, free breakfasts are being trialled for all students. The fact that all have this access makes those receiving free school meals aren't identifiable through arriving early for their breakfast |
90 | Problems like this have to be seen in the wider context of austerity and the structural inequality of the capitalist system but schools have to deal with the reality of each individual pupils circumstances. Schools do not have a duty (or ability) to solve all society's problems but cannot ignore a problem that presents at their dorr each day. |
91 | Free school meals, breakfast clubs are all good ways of improving this situation. Unfortunately the best way I feel would be through food preparation/cookery lessons. But the cycle of poverty/poor diet is a notoriuosly bad one to break, and good habits formed in the the 5 hours in school can be too easily undone outside of it. Also, as a teacher in Wales, I 'm amazed that Food isn't a compulsory part of the curriculum for all pupils at all ages. |
92 | Schools need to have funds and staff available to look after breakfast club. Staff pressures are making this very difficult |
93 | Not only does it impact on the pupil's wellbeing it also affects my subject which is Food Technology. So where I am putting my efforts into giving good food knowledge and understanding to try and break the cycle of bad eating habits the economic situation has had a direct impact in that not only do pupils not eat well at home the family does not have the money to provide ingredients for school practicals, regardless of how cost effective I try to make them! The fact that as a department my budget has been significantly reduced I cannot afford to fund the ingredients for these pupils as I have previously, so that they can participate in the practical lesson means they are further affected! There will be a massive impact as a result of the economic situation in the near future and the current Government's attitude towards school budgets, particularly in relation to the teaching of Food Technology will mean that the funding they currently give to third world countries will soon be needed in our own as many of its population experience third world conditions here and now. |
94 | We should offer free school meals to ALL - students and staff. (The inclusion of staff would aid social skills.) Practically we should offer less variety - a choice of 2 meals. I mean 2 meals without sweets, crisps, pop etc., but just basic, standard, traditional fare. |
95 | Once again I think this is a society problem pushed onto schools to address |
96 | Parents need to be more aware of what their children have to eat and what they do out of school. Too many children get themselves up and ready for school in the morning skipping breakfast because there is either nothing suitable to eat or they can't be bothered to make something for themselves. Many parents have no idea what their children eat at lunch time either which can be an issue if the children consume energy drinks, sweets and/or chips etc. at lunch time instead of a healthy option. This drastically affects their behaviour and can be very disruptive in school. The message about healthy eating should be loud and clear from home and school. Breakfast does not need to cost a lot of money and parents should be made aware of the impact skipping breakfast has on their children. |
97 | Clearly government cuts will increase pupil hunger for low-income families. They el tend to buy cheaper food, which usually means Lowe quality food. Or they will simply buy less food. In either case, children will suffer. |
98 | I think it is largely a parenting issue - students getting themselves up too late and not making time for breakfast. |
99 | Often I feel that it is parental neglect that is leading to increased pupil hunger as much as the austerity measures |
100 | I teach in an area of high deprivation (Thanet). Many children are clearly in the bottom centimes for height and weight, statistically more than you would expect. We are having to buy clothes for them on EBay and have a food basket for donations in the staffroom. Tired, hungry children do make good learners. |
101 | It is primarily the responsibility of parents to ensure their children grow up making the right choices about what to eat, how to eat and how much to eat. Our school allows only 30 mins for the lunch break. We are a large school and this makes life so rushed and stressful that many of our students choose not to eat. Teachers srtuggle to eat too. Students see us eat "on the hoof" and unless we have a sit down with a knife and fork kind of meal, food choices and social behaviour at the table will not improve. Our social areas are disgusting at the end of breaks where children wander off leaving a trail of rubbish behind them. Hunger seems worst amongst girls and I suspect body image fuelled by media pressure is the main reason. ( We have wide screen T.V's round school showing music channel videos with gyrating dancers in skimpy clothing) |
102 | The Breakfast Club menu at my school is fruit juice, apples and white bread toast. It is better than nothing. Contrast that with my own children's choice of cereals, porridge, wholemeal toast, yoghurt, a variety of fruit and range of fruit juice or smoothies. Adding breakfast to the FSM entitlement, making it the school's responsibility seems as if we are accepting or condoning inadequate parenting. Unless it can be proven without a shadow of a doubt that "breakfast every day = exam success" then SMT/the government/ the general public will not be interested. |
103 | It shouldn't be the schools job to deal with pupil hunger in the mornings, but it is increasingly becoming so as we have to deal with the effects of it, and are pretty much the only people in many students lives who will do something about it. The stigma attached to FSM has somewhat been reduced by a biometrics system in the school where money is automatically credited to a students 'finger', thus they are more likely to use the credit. The fluidity of many families in our school means that eligibility for FSM varies depending on which family member/friends they are registered as staying with, but this is often not where a child has spent the previous night. The current system isn't equipped to deal with this. There are an incredible amount of students who are in the building at 7am, with nowhere else to go and be warm and fed, and then at the other end will happily get themselves put in detentions to stay in the building longer. |
104 | Tutors could take a responsibility on ensuring that their tutees are offered breakfast for a nominal price and parents are made aware of the issues. |
105 | I believe that school dinner portions are not enough and most children will go out for dinners because of this. Also when they go out for dinner they would rather buy a pack of buscuits than a sandwich, therefore they are very hard to settle down after lunch. Maybe portion size should be increased to entice students to stay in school at lunch. |
106 | I think parents are not always eating healthily themselves so are sometimes unaware or not determined in settin a good example. Some students are given money to buy breakfast on way to school but unfortunately they spend it on crisps, fizzy drinks or sweets. Free school breakfasts would help the most disadvantaged. Hopefully the next generation should be more aware of healthy eating from schools and tv programmes |
107 | For some students the increase in unemployment is clearly affecting their behaviour, but this is not just about hunger, it also about the sense of instability at home and loss of personal social status. Some of our students have had to turn down scholarships because of redundancies, drop music lessons (etc), no longer have their mobile phone or have a cheaper one. Bullying in school can become a issue. Some of the questions in this survey are far too vague or generalised so your results will not be valid.For example the question about nutritional value term-time v holidays: for some students they eat better in term time as they have school meals, for others they eat better in the holidays because their lunch at home is better than the school meal they choose to buy. It would have been better to ask what proportion have a better diet in term time, what proportion in the holidays. Good luck producing some meaningful data! |
108 | It's an increasing problem - they don't eat, don't understand the social norms of eating - sitting at a table, using cutlery etc. It means they can be much more andy - but it's part of a wider issue - lack of care, hygiene, access to soap and water, parents being up in the morning etc. So many households where families have, quite literally, given up. This is a social need. We have a breakfast club, we also have a rewards shop where students can have shower gel, school equipment, sun cream, fruit, etc by collecting reward tokens. I buy them shirts, bring in fruit to snack on, organise cereal and milk for breakfast.... these students have to feel that someone cares about their wellbeing. Otherwise they give up too, and what hope lies in their future then? |
109 | The impact of being hungary needs to be made clear and the reasons behind need to be dealt with, recently a students disclosed she was worried about her mum and sister. At the weekend her mum had ben arrested trying to steal food from a supermarket for the family. The younger sister was no enroled in a primary school so had no access to feed neither did the mother the girls only meal was the free school meal she received. In 2012 this is something the country should be ashamed of. |
110 | Answers about my school, situated in Switzerland. |
111 | regular surveys in school for pupils to give anonymous feedback on when/what they eat academies are exempt from school meal guidelines - pizza and chips is unacceptable |
112 | I always take extra food and money on school trips as some students wont have enough/ any with them. Packed lunches are generally eaten before first break. When children come in from a distance breakfast club would not be of any use. |
113 | I think that those that qualify for free school meals should be able to share the money out over breakfast and lunch - at the moment if they do that they end up with less overall calories so some hcildren go from lunch to the next day's lunch before they eat a meal again. In addition, although lunches are healthier than they used to be - for example pizza at our school has grated courgette and carrot in the dough - you can still buy pizza every day and fizzy drinks are sold - OK flavoured water and fizzy fruit juice and worse still in this lovely hot weather they are selling ice lollies. Ice lollies - lovely, but one costs a pound and you can buy a box of 20 for 2.50! OK - you have hit my soap box topic. |
114 | It's not food before school but the choices they are making throughout the day. They will go to the shop before school and spend their lunch money on large bottles of fizzy drinks and packs of biscuits. They also drink very little water and some will go a whole day not having anything making them feel ill, lethargic and unable to access learning. There needs to be better education for all - parents, students and schools - to prevent this from being an ongoing barrier to learning. |
115 | I work in a challenging inner city school in an area of high deprivation. Pupil hunger is a big problem. Some students get to school really early to have breakfast in breakfast club as they do not get any at home. This is a sad sight in the cold winter months. Students hate the holidays as they do not get their free school meals. I have seen students turn up to school just before lunch only to have their free school meal. I think that there should be holiday clubs where these studenst get a chance to have a free hot meal. After school homeworkclubs with food should also be introduced. |
116 | Schools need extra funding / recognition of the problem where it is a significant issue but like most things connected with social deprivation isssues in schools in"challenging areas" we are not allowed to say it - just blamed for the consequences. Schools do not want to be negative about their pupils or parents and are accused by the government and right wing media of letting children down. So schools bear the burden in all the ways mentioned in the survey. The solution: honesty about social class and poverty issues and a government which doesn't use teachers and schools as society's whipping boys in order to furthervthir privatisation agenda. |
117 | There are lots of ways school could improve hunger in school, using cross curriculum enterprise projects, setting up mini cafe's for use during and after school, using food form counties in ML, design new food products, lots of ways to help, too many to mention, the same excuse is used for not taking up these option, time and money. Hope this all makes sence type on mobil. |
118 | I work in a special school and we have always provided a free breakfast of either toast or cereals whilst this is an excellent start it does remove parental responsibility to feed their children and the children frequently suffer in the holidays |
119 | If pupils are going hungry it can have a devasting effect on their development both physically and academically but I don't think it should be just down to the schools to try and combat this. I think those parents who are not looking after their children properly should be made to face up to their responsibilities and given food or luncheon vouchers instead of cash benefits. |
120 | School lunches should be nutritious and supplement a students diet. Too many students see crisps as a healthy snack and come to school drinking a fizzy drink as there first drink of the day. This has a massive impact on behaviour. |
121 | There seems a distinct lack of parenting skills. this means students leave the house hungry and stay hungry all day. I feel parenting skills should be offered to all parents. |
122 | It is not just hunger, it is kids coming to school with a packet of crisps/biscuits for breakfast and a bottle of coke. Their parents need educating not to just hand them money to buy breakfast and lunch. |
123 | Many pupils at my school will arrive in the morning having had no breakfast but clutching a can of LSV or other energy drink and/or a pile of empty calories e.g. crisps, chocolate or sweets. They can all tell me about a healthy diet, in particular, that they need 5 a day (of what they're not always sure). I've tried reading the labels out to them so that they can see how little of what is good for them is in these products, but it seems to make little difference. We have one family who walk a very long way to school and the youngest has arrived drenched, blue with cold and starving. You ask if it is a school's job to deal with this and I have said yes because I can't see who else is going to notice. My school doesn't currently have a breakfast club but I think they should have. Many teenagers don't feel like eating when they get up in the morning but, by the time they've travelled to school they're ready to eat something - the corner shop over the road does a roaring trade in rubbish because there's nothing else. Pupils who have little money or ineffective parents at home could come in and have something to eat in a social atmosphere and would have a much better start to the day. |
124 | In a large school its difficult to identify students who have not eaten. its not always those who are entitled to free school meals.In teenage years there are many reasons students don't eat and many influences on what they eat. |
125 | I think that parents need to be involved with the school in training them to give their children healthy foods fulls top. Too many of them have KFC etc 4 times a week and then have crisps and chocolate for lunch. FSM pupils at least get a proper meal at lunchtime. I do believe that it should be dealt with at home but that school should invite parents in for sessions on the benefits of good nutrition. |
126 | Rather than parents giving cash to pupils in order to buy meals, they should prepare packed meals or avail themselves of meal vouchers which could be exchanged at school canteens. Too many pupils go to the nearest sweet shop and buy all sorts of woefully inappropriate snacks to get them through the day. I'm also with Jamie Oliver about the need to educate children and parents about basic nutrition. It is also a sad sign of modern cutbacks that the advances he made with school meals are now being eroded in the interests of cost-cutting. |
127 | teach parents to get up and actually be parents by feeding their kids before school. More parents need to be involved wth schools offering breakfast clubs - these could be used to teach parents what a good breakfast should be. |
128 | educated the parents/carers |
129 | Again, should the school take the place of parents? Yes, if the parents are incompetent/can't do the job and the child's future aspirations are suffering/decreasing/learning opportunities are going down the pan. Food is control. Some parents are refusing badly behaved children food so the child has issues with food and behaviour that uness dealt with early on will become bigger/worse problems. School's are microcosms of society and frankly I care for all in society so food should be available to children in school. Healthy food only. Oats, wholegrains, fish, vegetables and fruit. No processed food. Local if possible, all taught to them so that their consumer habits encourage the local economy and links are made to possible job opportunities in their futures as food will always be a supply and demand enterprise. There are no jobs for those unable to afford university. Where are the well paid skilled apprenticeships for the 16-25 year olds? Where are the other jobs? What IS the point of educating youngsters for such a feeble snobby elitist country with no manufacturing base, no investment in the youth, no CBT for children of addicts, no free hypnotherapy for young smokers/drinkers, no jobs, no housing...nothing etc etc. Perhaps omega3 should be trialled as a learning aid in malnourished low attaining areas? It's weird the way the cyclical nature of children's futures is messed around with by successive government after governments and those at the bottom of the heap are still left there with no aspirations and no hope. It's not good enough for a 'civilised' society is it? |
130 | I am afraid thatbit is an issue . However I do not think it is the role of the school to address this problem. Perhaps identify neglect and give that information to Social Services. Schools are so restricted in terms of their brief that it is enough to make sure these children have the opportunity to be educated. |
131 | Some ways to solute pupil hunger would be training parents to prepare healthy meals and give them some food to prepare for all the family because not only is the poverty but the lack of health education. |
132 | Part of the issue is the cheapness of energy drinks and biscuits on the way to school. A student can get 2 packets of chocolate fingers for £1 or a large bottle of non-branded energy drink. Scholl meals have begun to drift back into unpleasantness and we have less dining room staff (tecahers on duty and canteen staff) so queueing and atmosphere is not what a lot of pupils would like. OUr school has almost 50% free school meals but we know that a lot of parents don't claim |
133 | I would want the government to take responsibility for the hardships they are causing, by providing the means for every school to run a free breakfast club. I work in a small secondary school, whose budget is very tight; we simply do not have the funds to provide this service! |
134 | Over half my students come to school without having eaten breakfast. They are now ready to learn, are lethargic and beg food from teachers and peers. |
135 | I work in a special school where many pupils are on a school bus for an hour or more. They may not have time for breakfast, may not be ready for breakfast early and just before they get on a bus. Sometimes pupils chose not to eat breakfast. But I don't think teachers should take on even more responsibilty and be the ones to feed them breakfast. When and where would it be eaten as ,already getting up early and transported to school, the pupils have no time to eat before lessons start-many can be held up in traffic and only just get there dispite an early start. We could have 20mins during registration but then some would eat a second breakfast and some who do need it still would not get it. And we seem to start the day later and later with other inititives like Brain Gym and Funky Five eating into the day. There is hardly time to teach! Still I'm a softy and I have made time in the past for a quick bowl of cereal when I knew it was really needed. But the bottom line is that Parents/families should be feeding kids otherwise out of term time and weekends the problem is still there. All this from a gran who knows her son is not eating so her grandson can - (I keep the rent and bills paid as well as my own). There are no benefits for my son so it seems while others can get without even asking. There are hidden sufferers of the current situation- not all are in school yet. |
136 | We have had problems with behaviour of Friday mornings before pay day due to no food in the fridge on Thursday evenings with one girl. Also vulnerable 14-16 year olds using money for food to score drugs, or going out instead of eating and then being not fit to learn the next day, either coming down with behavioural issues or saying they are too hungry and cannot do the learning activities- even after being given tea and toast first thing. We have pupils who look malnourished, and increasingly other signs of poverty that never used to be so apparent- holes in clothes, and tights, same outfit being worn every day such that other pupils say they do not want to be in the same group or work in the room after these pupils because of body odour. We have problems with drugs being brought onto the School site by these pupils too, we carry out searches and then we must call the Police, who are increasingly overstretched. There have been fights between pupils over money owed to dealers out of school. Many of our pupils have been excluded from Academies for drug issues in School. On every level the problems are much wider than the issue this survey is seeking to cover: family breakdown, domestic violence, drug problems and alcoholism at home, lack of parenting skills and lack of boundaries being laid down at a younger age, being thrown out of home because single parents are at the end of their tether with anti social behaviour and fear of aggression and its effects on younger siblings. These effects are more apparent in pupil referral units but are still prevalent in many schools especially in deprived areas. So the cause of pupil hunger is perhaps indicative of far greater issues here in SW England not inner city London. Parenting Classes are definitely needed to tackle causes, also free school breakfasts, sniffer dog patrols, mentors for the vulnerable, counselling and health drop in centres on school sites... |
137 | Students arrive drinking Lucozade and packets of cookies that they have purchased from the local pound shop. They are therefore eating too much sugar and are not hydrated appropriately. |
138 | I think pupil malnutrition is more of an issue at my school. I see pupils having chocolate bars and sweets for breakfast, because their parents have given them money rather than fed them at home. I think a school breakfast club which parents pay money to directly would be beneficial. |
139 | We should ask the banks to give part of their income to schools in order to solve the problem of children malnutrion |
140 | Pupils are very often hungry,due to family issues/lack of money. Our students are Special needs and some come to school by school bus.This can be as early as 7 a.m and parents are not awake or up, and if students did not have the Magic Breakfast Club to eat they would not eat until lunch time and some do not even eat in the evening as parents have nothing to eat. As you can see pupil hunger is a big issue especially in such areas as ours which are poor. I strongly feel that every student has the same rights to eat and to get an education wherever they are from. |
141 | If we accept that education is a right for every pupil, then the right to be free from hunger is a more fundamental need as it is the base of Maslow's priority of needs which I agree with. Secondly, one cannot concentrate if one is hungry. There was a precedent of free school milk which was abolished in the 1970s (I believe) It is needed now as the austerity measures implemented are having an effect on families. To ameliorate the worst effects having free breakfasts would support those families that need help most. This resource would go directly to children BECAUSE they are at school, so it would not be wasted. I have no other suggestions |
142 | Schools are in a unique position to provide help for pupils who require it. It is part of our duty of care. |
143 | By age 12 a child should really be able to wake up in time and make themselves breakfast. If a parent/carer has not provided food with which to make the breakfast, then it is a social services issue. A school cannot be expected to provide free breakfast on a large scale as the costs would be enormous and the logistics difficult. We are lucky however, in that the local diocese provides mountains of bread to offer our hungry kids tea and toast before registration, in our 'sanctuary', cooked up by our resident pastor and youth volunteers from the City Forum Church - this does mean though that not only the hungry get breakfast...for some it may well be a second breakfast! |
144 | Many of our pupils try to spend as much time in school as possible. They come in through the holidays and seek out teachers to talk to - even if they don't get on with them in lessons! They hang around as long as possible in the evenings and arrive very early (up to an hour before school starts) in the mornings. Whilst this may not be directly a result of lack of food at home, it is almost certainly indicative of the lack of a nurturing home environment. Pupils often tell me they do not have breakfast or lunch. Packed lunches can be completely unsuitable, eg a 200g bar of chocolate. |
145 | We need to address the issue as many parents do not have the capacity, which is a very sad thing. |
146 | There are students - mainly girls - who choose not to eat. My experience is that they eat one meal a day usually in the evening. By the time they get to lunchtime/early afternoon they have not eaten for 18/20 hours and they are tired, tearful and cannot think straight. When a student comes to my office in tears, at some point early in the discussion, we always ask 'when did you last eat?' the answer is often 'last night'. We offer something to eat (Brevita biscuits are a big favourite) and often find that a boost in blood sugar helps the student think more constructively. |
147 | We have a particular problem in that we are a PRU. Many of our pupils come from homes where parenting skills are sadly lacking. We do provide a free breakfast club two days per. week but do not have the funds or the staff do be able to do this more often. We also find that most of our pupils do not arrive in school until after lessons have started and so are not able to get breakfast. Some pupils have called at the shop beforehand preferring bags of crisps and cheap energy drinks to a decent breakfast. Some of our pupils also prefer to have a cigarette rather than come into school for food. Some would also go without a free lunch rather than miss their cigarette. The club has only marginally improved punctuality which is one of the reasons it was introduced. We do teach Healthy Living and, hopefully, some of what we teach will have some effect later in their lives. We also have a school nurse who works with them to try and wean them off nicotine but at the moment the pupils are still hungry and addicted to nicotine. |
148 | Breakfast club would help. A later start would help - we begin at 8.10 and students say they don't have time. |
149 | Free School Breakfasts and also I think Free School Dinner/Tea as well - because, we have to realise that for some children the Free School Meal they get at lunch is the only meal that they get all day, and that is simply not enough. I also think that the free fruit/milk policy should continue into Secondary school - we could give out the fruit and milk in tutor time and our children would then be able to make it through until lunch. |
150 | Many students say that their parents give them money to get lunch from a shop on the way to school. The students are either then running too late for school to have time to go in to a shop to buy it, or the students keep the money so that they can buy play station games etc. Our school does not have a canteen - students pre-order and pre-pay for their school lunches, so do not have the opportunity to buy food from the school canteen. |
151 | Ensure breakfast was available in all schools. |