The hidden costs of poverty are costing academy trusts hundreds of thousands of pounds as schools try to pull the poorest families out of 'crisis'.
The news comes amid calls for Prime Minister Jeremy Hunt to provide more education funding ahead of next week's Spring Budget, as rising costs are expected to outpace funding growth. Ta.
The government regularly claims that school funding is at a “record high”. But the survey reveals only a fraction of the additional costs schools are currently facing due to the cost of living crisis and the collapse of a wide range of support services.
Dixons Academy Trust has announced that it will be giving away 150 yen a year in “Fighting Poverty Grants” amid concerns that some pupils will not be able to “attend and succeed in school” without it. He said he was spending £10,000.
Meanwhile, Dan Moynihan, chief executive of the Harris Federation, estimated that £500,000 of the budget goes to supporting the most disadvantaged pupils, some of whom are full of damp and cockroaches. (Some students are currently living in temporary housing.)
But Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said schools “do not have the resources to sustain this in the long term”.
“This is largely a result of rising costs of living and the erosion of other support services, which means schools are being forced to step into the breach.”
Trust covers meals and travel
Dixons, which runs 17 schools in the north, covers the “food and school trip costs that families cannot afford” and provides uniforms and food parcels to those in need. Its staff also assists families who are struggling with the cost of living.
Chief executive Luke Sparks said the £1.5 million annual bill – the majority of which comes from the annual general grant (GAG) – would mean “less money available for teachers”.
But he added that without this spending, “some children would not be able to attend school and be successful.”
Mr Moynihan said the “invisible” part of the six-figure expenditure was for time spent by SENCOs writing letters to housing authorities and filling out benefit applications. .
“We have one family where all five of us were put in a room with no laundry facilities. Lots of cockroaches and damp stuff. [as well]”
Some children will be given Breakfast Club meal vouchers and those living in temporary accommodation without cooking facilities will be provided with an evening meal.
One of the 55 schools in Harris, where many homeless students are moved two hours away, is trying to get children to stop “wandering around Costa all day.” They even open up the heated hall to parents who come with them.
Families “in crisis” also receive mental health and wellbeing support from a team of counselors. But it's not “close” [large] sufficient”.
The trust is spending a further £2 million from funds raised through sponsorship on “alleviating poverty in various forms”.
“In the past, schools taught children.”
The Consortium Trust, which runs 15 schools in East Anglia, uses around £100,000 of GAG to support its poorest pupils.
It will pay for a chaplain and three family support workers (£51,015), a travel stipend (£28,000), uniforms (£3,000) and a breakfast club and after-school club (£18,500).
In London, Marino Charambous, director of the North Star Community Trust, spends around £200,000 of his annual budget on similar initiatives.
Half of it deals with child protection issues and his protection team, which works specifically to prevent young people from getting “involved in gangs”.
The rest will go towards flat grants, the hardship fund, which provides £25 Tesco gift certificates to homeless families, and the Community Support Department's salaries, which have increased “year on year” since it was launched in 2016.
“These are the kinds of issues that can take two or three days for local authorities and social services to process, so we are the first point of contact,” Charanboos explained.
Mr Burton called on the chancellor to tackle the issue in what could be his last budget before the election, by “investing in education and other public services and tackling alarmingly high levels of child poverty”. Ta.
Mr Moynihan added: “In the past, schools taught children. Now we provide a wide range of services that are not adequately funded. But if we do not provide them, , becomes a crisis for these families.”
