Extreme child poverty is worsening across the UK, with schools increasingly forced to fill in the gaps being left by councils and social services budget cuts, school leaders have said. In the survey of 900 teachers, 60% said child poverty in schools had worsened since 2015, and one in three said it had got significantly worse. Several school leaders said they had noticed a visible difference in health and stature between children from their schools in deprived areas and those from better-off areas. Celia Dignam, an NEU official responsible for child poverty, said the union’s survey revealed the reality of 4.1 million children living in poverty. Although child poverty sits outside of the Department for Education’s remit, the DfE has allowed pupil premium funding to be used for poverty alleviation.

Source: The Guardian April 01, 2018 23:01 UTC