Researchers also find lack of fresh fruit and vegetables in schools and say portion sizes sometimes not enough
Free school meal allowances are not enough for students from lower-income backgrounds to buy healthy school lunches, research suggests.
The study, presented at the European Congress of Obesity (ECO), involved 42 pupils aged between 11 and 15 at seven schools across the UK.
Continue reading...Jim Pillen breaks with 14 other Republican governors to enroll in Summer EBT, a new food program for school vacation months
Nebraska’s governor announced this week that the state would accept federal dollars to help feed children from low-income families, breaking away from the more than a dozen other Republican governors around the US who have refused to do so.
Just last month, Jim Pillen joined 14 other Republican governors in opting not to enroll in Summer EBT, a new federal food program that provides low-income families with a monthly payment of $40 per child during summer vacation. In participating states, families with children in free or reduced-price school lunch programs will get $40 per qualifying child on an electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card throughout each of the three summer months. That money can be used to purchase groceries and food from farmers’ markets.
Continue reading...Nutritious lunches should be seen as an effective way to address obesity, chronic illness and poverty, says coalition
Children across Europe must receive at least one nutritious school meal a day if governments want to tackle rising obesity rates, prevent chronic illnesses and reduce social inequalities, according to a coalition of experts.
Nearly a third of primary school-age children in Europe are either overweight or obese, while almost a quarter of children in the EU are at risk of poverty or social exclusion.
Continue reading...Labour leader says ‘money is a big factor’ as he also declines to promise 6.5% pay rise for teachers
Keir Starmer has refused to commit to supporting free school meals for all primary school children, as he stuck to a tough fiscal position despite pressure from inside and outside of his party.
The Labour leader also declined to commit to a 6.5% pay rise for teachers as he urged the government to resolve the dispute at the centre of strike action.
Continue reading...Department for Education survey finds that 40,000 – almost 9% of workforce – left state schools in 2021-22 before retirement
Teachers in England are abandoning their profession in record numbers, according to official figures, with Labour claiming that “incompetent” government policies were to blame.
The latest workforce survey by the Department for Education (DfE) found that 40,000 teachers left state schools last year – almost 9% of the teaching workforce, and the highest number since it began publishing the data in 2011 – while a further 4,000 retired.
Continue reading...Support grows for expansion of free school meals to struggling families in face of rising hunger
The number of UK children in food poverty has nearly doubled in the last year to almost 4 million, new data shows, ramping up pressure on ministers to expand the provision of free school meals to struggling families.
According to the Food Foundation thinktank, one in five (22%) of households reported skipping meals, going hungry or not eating for a whole day in January, up from 12% at the equivalent point in 2022.
Continue reading...Offering places by proximity results in selection of pupils from more affluent households, say researchers
Disadvantaged children are suffering “geographic exclusion” from England’s best state schools because they cannot afford to live near those with the best exam results, according to new research published by the University of Bristol.
The research found that very few state secondary schools give priority to pupils who qualify for free school meals, despite the government’s admissions rules being redesigned more than eight years ago allowing them to do so.
Continue reading...Around one in 10 pupils who would qualify for assistance are not registered with the scheme
The government has been accused of “standing idly by while children go hungry” after new analysis showed that more than 200,000 of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSMs) in England are missing out because they are not registered.
Campaigners have urged ministers to automate the enrolment process using social security records, amid fears that children from disadvantaged backgrounds are going hungry because they have not signed up.
Continue reading...Tory ex-chancellor George Osborne also suggests free meals for ‘larger group of the population is the right way forward’
Jamie Oliver has renewed pressure on the government to expand free school meals, with George Osborne suggesting widening the programme could be the right way forward and Tony Blair saying the money could be found if politicians wanted to do it.
The television chef highlighted the issue as he was guest-editing BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday as part of his long-term campaign on free school meals.
Continue reading...Increasing numbers of children cannot afford lunch and are coming to school without adequate clothes
More than half of school leaders in England are seeing more pupils who cannot afford a meal at lunchtime yet are not eligible for free school meals, according to a survey.
Research by the Sutton Trust, an educational charity, found clear signs that the cost of living crisis was increasingly affecting young people’s education, with a growing number of pupils arriving at school tired, cold and hungry.
Continue reading...Bradford-born singer who relied on free school lunches urges PM to extend provision to all families on universal credit
Zayn Malik has called on Rishi Sunak to “give all children living in poverty” free school meals during the cost of living crisis.
The former One Direction singer, 29, who relied on free school lunches as a child growing up in Bradford, recently became an ambassador for the Food Foundation and is backing its Feed the Future campaign.
Continue reading...Footballer Marcus Rashford’s victory on school meals is crumbling as English councils drop schemes
Councils across England are “quietly” axing holiday food voucher schemes for children on free school meals, which has left many families desperate this half-term, headteachers and charities warn.
It took a massive public campaign, led by the Manchester United and England footballer Marcus Rashford, to force Boris Johnson into a U-turn in November 2020 on feeding children from the lowest-income families during the school holidays.
Continue reading...Expert says exam results will likely mirror A-levels and remain above what they were in 2019
More pupils will fail their GCSEs this year and top grades are expected to fall as results return to pre-pandemic levels, an education expert has predicted.
There could be 230,000 fewer top grades in the UK compared with 2021, but 230,000 more than 2019, according to Prof Alan Smithers, director of the centre for education and employment research at the University of Buckingham.
Continue reading...Campaigners says uplift falls way short of inflation and only applies to youngest pupils in school system
The government is to increase the funding rate for universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) by just 7p a pupil, it was announced on Tuesday, a move immediately branded “inadequate” by the sector.
Following an outcry over the government’s new food strategy, which did not include the hoped-for expansion of free school meals, the education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, announced that funding for free school meals for all pupils in reception, year 1 and year 2 would go up from £2.34 to £2.41 a meal.
Continue reading...Figures shows 10% rise in FSM across England and school leaders say real child poverty level is even higher
Nearly one in three children in the north-east of England are receiving free school meals (FSM), according to figures that reveal a 10% rise across England, as school leaders say the real level of child poverty is even higher.
The figures released in the Department for Education (DfE) annual school census show that 22.5% of state school pupils are on FSM, up from 20.8% last year, reflecting the increasing number of households receiving universal credit and earning less than £7,400 a year after tax.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Report for Aberlour children’s charity reveals scale of school meal debt for first time
More than £1m is owed by families across Scotland who are unable to pay for their children’s school meals, new research has found.
The report for the Aberlour children’s charity, seen exclusively by the Guardian, reveals the scale of school meal debt for the first time, and details an “alarming” rise in hidden hunger among Scotland’s school pupils.
Continue reading...Heads reluctant to increase burden on families already caught in cost of living crisis
At St Jude’s, a small Church of England primary school in south London, the morning breakfast club is exceptionally busy. Over the past six weeks the number of pupils coming in to have porridge, scrambled egg and fruit smoothies before the school day begins has climbed from eight to 22 – nearly a quarter of the Southwark school’s population.
Families hit by the cost of living crisis are increasingly desperate, says the acting deputy head, Matt Jones. They need help with their debts; they can’t pay their bills. Staff are making more and more referrals to StepChange, a debt charity, and the school has made discretionary payments to help families unable to afford gas, electricity or nappies.
Continue reading...Exclusive: government urged to activate part of Equality Act that would impose duty on public bodies to tackle inequality
The failure of successive governments to enact part of the Equality Act, which would have imposed a duty to address socio-economic disadvantage, has exacerbated inequalities in England during the coronavirus pandemic, a thinktank has claimed.
The Runnymede Trust’s report, Facts Don’t Lie, says that the public sector duty provision would have imposed a legal obligation on education authorities in England to ensure working class children on free school meals were fed properly while schools were shut and had access to laptops for remote learning.
Continue reading...From fish to lorries to footballers, Boris Johnson has his hands full
Continue reading...Vouchers and money to buy food bring families the dignity everyone deserves, as the World Food Programme has shown
Dignity is not a word that you would normally associate with your weekly supermarket shop, or with planning how you might be going to feed your children each night.
But right now, when families are under intense pressure to find enough money to keep food on the table and ensure their children have access to a healthy and nutritious diet, dignity is something we should all be demanding for those who depend on others for the means to feed their loved ones.
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