Dealing with the effects of poverty and societal failure has come at a “personal cost” to teachers and school staff, the education secretary said today.

Speaking at an event marking the first 100 days of the Labour government, Bridget Phillipson said that many of the concerns voiced to her by school staff are about issues “beyond the school gate”.

“Some of the biggest complaints and challenges that are raised with me are not even just about what’s happening within school,” Ms Phillipson said.

She shared examples of school staff having to support families who have been made homeless, supporting families into new accommodation and “staff putting their hands in their pocket to buy provisions and food” for children and their families.

The impact of poverty on schools

The education secretary added that school staff have been “left desperate about issues around mental health provision”, saying that “all of that pressure means that our staff are able to focus less on educational outcomes and are having to deal with wider factors of societal failure”.

• Poverty: Bridget Phillipson to head up child poverty taskforce
• Disadvantage: Teachers ‘should be involved in child poverty taskforce’
• Workload: Eight in 10 school staff diverted from job by child poverty

Ms Phillipson said these issues highlight why the government’s Child Poverty Taskforce, which she is leading, “will be so important”.

“I know [schools] are the only people left standing, in many cases, within our communities because they take their responsibilities so seriously, meaning they are picking up all of this work,” she said.

Ms Phillipson is jointly leading the taskforce alongside the work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendall.

Addressing staff in the schools at the event today, she acknowledged that dealing with the effects of poverty and societal issues “comes at a personal cost for people working in the sector”.