Dealing with child poverty in school
28th November, 2014
The Children's Commission on Poverty has published an important report looking at the impact of child poverty in schools.
The report – ‘At what cost? Exposing the impact of poverty on school’ – flags up a number of issues for schools of all types.
What does the report say?
The report was undertaken by 16 young commissioners (aged 10-19) and looked at the impact of the costs associated with schools (such as school meals, uniforms, materials and trips) upon children.
The report made a number of recommendations including but not limited to:
- All schools should have a cashless system for paying for school meals
- The Government should expand free school meal eligibility to all families living on low incomes
- ‘Poverty proofing’ should be promoted as a model of good practice – ensuring that their practices and ways of working do not cause problems for low income families
- No child should be excluded for an inability to pay
- School trips and activities should allow options for payment by instalments
- Communication from school should be directly with parents, not through children, to reduce the emotional burden on children
- Teachers should receive training to improve their understanding of poverty
- Ofsted should inspect schools on how to support the poorest pupils including confidential consultations with students.
The overall conclusion is that “urgent change is needed in schools to make sure that children living in poorer families are not excluded, stigmatised or unable to achieve their potential in education”.
What issues lead on from the report?
The report’s conclusion also lends itself to consideration of those children who are in the Looked After system.
Poverty is often an issue or contributor to safeguarding concerns within a family and it is important that, when analysing the fall-out and considerations following the above report, schools and colleges are also up to speed with their safeguarding responsibilities and obligations.
How can Ward Hadaway help?
Our safeguarding team can offer bespoke advice and training to the education sector regarding the legislative framework and practical expectations of multi-agency working in the field of safeguarding children.
This training can focus on information sharing, consents, report writing and attending court. Our experts can ensure that all such training is tailored to the day to day roles of your particular staff, with specific reference to the education setting.
As it becomes increasingly common for professionals to be required to prepare statements and reports for court in public and private law proceedings, we can also provide court skills training so that staff can experience giving evidence and being cross examined in a Family Court scenario.
Our expert team can also provide advice and guidance in relation to individual safeguarding related queries flowing from the various education settings.
We also have experience of drafting safeguarding policies and protocols, ensuring compliance with local LSCB and national guidance.
For more information on how we can help, please get in touch.
Please note that this briefing is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.
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