‘So many children are coming to school hungry and the saddest part is nobody seems to care.’

A Hornchurch school teacher has spoken to the Havering Daily about the continuous struggles her pupils face due to the cost of living crisis impacting so many families. The teacher who did not wish to be named, shared how parents struggle to feed and clothe their children and rely on the school to so frequently help them.

“I don’t think many people realise just how bad the situation is for so many pupils and their families. Pupils are coming to school with no food, or no coat in the middle of winter. The school often hands out free uniform items and staff are secretly buy clothing for their pupils.

“This cost of living crisis has really hit families hard, families that were already struggling now are going under. The saddest part is that those that should be taking notice of all these dreadful situations, are actually oblivious to it, or they don’t really care.

“We have so many pupils that do not qualify for free school meals as the boundaries have changed and as a result come to school hungry. Many are embarrassed to let their friends know they are hungry and do not have money for food. So many members of staff buy pupils food, that’s something that has been going on for several years now.

“Things have progressively got worse. Families work and still struggle to put food on the table for their children. It really is awful.”
The Hornchurch school teacher has resigned herself to things being that way and cannot see the situation changing in the near future.

“We have seen that the Prime Minister wants all pupils to learn maths until they are 18 years old. As positive as that may be, why is nobody addressing what pupils are going through? We don’t have much hope that anyone will actually change this situation.

“Mental health issues for pupils has risen because so many pupils are watching their parents and carers struggle to live. They are children growing up with the pressure of social media, having to fit in a system and growing up in poverty. The level of poverty here is high.

The teacher finished by saying: “No child should grow up in poverty yet so many are, the saddest part is that so many people don’t care.”