Struggling parents are sending children to school with barely anything to eat, a headteacher has warned. Lisa Williams, head at Rushey Green Primary School in Lewisham says she has seen pupils with "just a slice of bread" for lunch.
Other teachers have told how they have seen children eating rubbers - to put something in their stomach. While some youngsters are resorting to stealing from other pupils, reports My London.
The findings came after primary school teachers were quizzed by school food charity Chefs In Schools. But some of thre answers were heartbreaking with some pupils storing food in their pockets to take home.
Teachers told how they used their own money to feed youngsters rather than see them go hungry. Ms Williams said: “I’ve never known anything like this during my career, it is getting worse.
"Children are coming to school hungry and we’re caught between a rock and a hard place. If they’re hungry, they can’t concentrate so our resources are worthless, but if the budget goes on school food, the resources suffer."
She added: “With pack lunches, some children have bread with no filling or just a slice of bread. We see cheap snacks that are low on nutrition.
"As we get towards the end of the week or month and the money runs out at home, it often gets worse. It’s heartbreaking. Parents are struggling. This isn’t about not wanting to feed their children, it’s about not being able to afford nutritious choices.”
At Rushey Green, they make all food from scratch and are able to use surplus produce to ensure there is enough to go around. Nationally teachers said children are unable to concentrate, are very short tempered and emotional when hungry and staff have spent their own money to have snacks in class available for these children.
Head chef Luke Kemsley said: “Some children don’t have enough food in their packed lunch box but they pretend otherwise or they’ll stay away from the dining hall because they’re embarrassed. We’ll seek them out and ensure they eat."
Luke had free school meals himself as a child and says change is needed to support schools and families. The Chefs in Schools charity is calling for an extension to the eligibility for free school meals. They say currently, 800,000 children at risk of going hungry are not entitled to support.
England’s school meal eligibility threshold means only families who earn below £7,400 are entitled to free school meals, whereas in Scotland and Wales, free school meals are being introduced for all children at primary level, while Northern Ireland’s eligibility threshold is almost twice that of England’s at £14,000.
Head Chef Luke at Rushey Green school added: “I look back and feel fortunate to have had free school meals myself. I grew up in South East London, with a single mother, and as a family we really didn’t have much money, but I did get food at school. I don’t know where I’d have been without it. We all know that being hungry impacts learning and had I been hungry daily, like lots of children are now, I would not have reached my potential.”
Meanwhile the Department of Education says it has expanded access to free school meals and ais investing up to £24m in the National School Breakfast Programme, which provides free breakfasts to children in schools in disadvantaged areas.
For more stories from where you live, visit InYourArea
