Thread by @docrussjackson

#THREAD

Under the Tories, the proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals has risen again, & now stands at 22.5%.

Nearly 2 MILLION schoolchildren in English schools were eligible for free school meals at the start of this year, government data shows.

#SunlitUplands

22.5% of pupils in English schools were eligible for free school meals (FSM) in January - an increase of 160,000 on last year's figure - described as "shocking" by headteachers' leaders.

This thread is based on this article:

tes.com/magazine/news/…

School leaders' Unions warned that these pupils' circumstances could become even "more severe" due to the #CostOfLivingCrisis & called for additional funding "for both educational & pastoral support".

No doubt the Mail & Tory MPs will ramp up their anti-union rhetoric, as usual.

Pupils in England are eligible for FSM if their parent or carer is entitled to certain benefits, such as Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance.

The proportion of eligible pupils was rising even before the pandemic, from 13.6% in 2018, but shot up to 20.8% in 2021.

Schools get extra funding (pupil premium) for each of their students on FSM - but not all students who are eligible claim FSM.

FSM eligibility varies between different schools: 23% in state-funded primaries; 21% in secondaries; special schools 44.7%; pupil referral units 54.6%.

In state-funded nurseries (where children are eligible if they meet the criteria & attend for full days) the figure rose to a new high of 8.6% & primary numbers may continue to rise.

FSM eligibility has big regional variations: 29.1% in the North East & 17.6% in the South East.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the #NAHT school leaders' union, warned that the children who have become newly eligible for FSM are "disproportionately drawn from more #disadvantaged areas & are largely those pupils who already needed more support."

Schools are "increasingly struggling" to give support due to "overstretched budgets & the erosion of the value of pupil premium funding since 2015. Additional funding is urgently needed for both educational & pastoral support. Children who are hungry are not ready to learn."

Teachers & school leaders are increasingly having to tackle the impact of #poverty before they can even start teaching.

"Free school meals eligibility should be extended to every child from a family in receipt of Universal Credit, with auto-enrolment."

Julie McCulloch, director of policy at the Association of School & College Leaders (ASCL) union, said it was "shocking" to see so many children living in extremely difficult financial circumstances - & another 800,000 children living in #poverty do not even qualify for the meals.

"Even more shocking is the fact that current eligibility does not even capture all the children who need help. Free school meal eligibility now applies to 22.5% of pupils, but we know that the level of child poverty is about 30%."

#CostOfLivingCrisis #LevellingUp

While the @Conservatives have wasted £BILLIONS, & their Party depends almost entirely on their grotesquely wealthy donors, more than 2 MILLION adults in the UK have gone without food for a whole day over the past month because they cannot afford to eat.

theguardian.com/society/2022/m…

The latest survey of the nation’s food intake shows a 57% jump in the proportion of households cutting back on food or skipping meals over the first three months of this year, with one in seven adults (7.3 MILLION) estimated to be food-insecure, up from 4.7 million in January.

We've not arrived at this abhorrent & unnecessary situation overnight - it's the consequence of a long-term plan by deranged free-market fundamentalists, & if UK citizens were sufficiently informed about it, the Tories would NEVER form a Govt ever again.

Free-market fundamentalism is the problem, not the solution.🧐

#CostOfLivingCrisis