Ah, the humble school dinner.
For so many, it’s a source of derision, with distant memories of prunes, custard and spotted dick.
However, the sad reality is that for many of our children it’s the only nutritious meal they have each day. It is, in fact, a lifeline for so many families who struggle financially who see it as the one guaranteed healthy and hot meal their child will have each day.
And yet, under so-called cost-cutting and austerity measures, many of our children are at risk of losing this meal. The rollout of universal credit could see the “net earning threshold” altered for the families of up to a million pupils, and the result will be losing their free school meal.
The problems, sadly, don’t end there. For many families, being fed every day at school isn’t enough. What happens during weekends, half-terms, and of course, the very long summer holiday? Research shows us that 3 million children in the UK are at risk of hunger during the holidays and that the loss of free school meals during the holidays costs families an extra £30 to £40 a week.
Supported by a cross-party group of MPs and peers, Frank Field MP has presented the School Holidays (Meals and activities) Bill which would require local authorities to facilitate the delivery of programmes to provide free food and activities for children during the holidays.
But there’s still a long way to go.
These children are the ones who bear the brunt of the years of underfunding in our schools.
And while so many schools are trying to tackle these problems with breakfast clubs, improved menus and additional snacks, the fact is that nine in 30 children are below the official poverty line.
Earlier this week I visited an exemplary secondary school which is committed to supporting every single aspect of a child’s needs. Daily, they feed 500 pupils incredible meals, both healthy and delicious. And the feeding doesn’t stop when the school day ends. Up to 80 of the children (and also their families) are fed in the early evenings, weekends and throughout the holidays.
How do they do it?
Food is supplied from the surplus at local supermarkets. It’s both cooked and made available to the local community for free. To be able to cover all the costs, they make the school available for hire throughout the year for events - weddings, birthdays, conferences, you name it, the school will accommodate you.
On Christmas day, up to 100 people are catered for by staff who know that they’re doing the right thing. For so many families, it means that the festive period can once again be full of happiness.
When I spoke to the inspiring catering manager (who left a fine dining Michelin-starred restaurant to do this), he told me about other schools doing the same. To them all, I bow in honour.
What they are doing is inspirational, I can’t help but ask myself: how have we reached the situation in 2018 that nearly a third of our pupils need food kitchens and foodbanks? Does Ofsted take on board the wonderful work being done by these schools? Sadly not. Far too far away from the data mantra.
When are we as a society going to recognise that for some pupils life is unbearably tough? And when will our government step up to help them? I really do hope the bill mentioned above is passed into law.
Until then, schools will, of course, continue to support these children and their families. In thanks for doing so, it’s surely only right that they’re placed at the very top of the pecking order, not the bottom.
Colin Harris led a school in a deprived area of Portsmouth for more than two decades. His last two Ofsted reports were “outstanding” across all categories
To read more of Colin’s articles, visit his back catalogue.
