Norfolk charity: Community support key to tackling rural poverty
16% of pupils have missed time in secondary school, because they didn't have the money for an essential, says national report
A charity in Norfolk is calling for more investment in community infrastructure and support, will help tackle rural poverty and deprivation.
Pupils from poorer backgrounds are missing school because they didn't have money for uniform or food, says a new report.
"Children who are eligible for this support are unaware that they are"
Adam Baker is from the Norfolk Community Foundation:
"Some of our funding which we gave away last summer was used to buy school uniforms for children who couldn't afford them.
"When those children went in school in the right uniform schools found that it helped them set the right tone for the year and built bridges with some parents.
"Fewer secondary school students are qualifying for free schools now under the recent changes. But still, a lot of children who are eligible for this support are unaware that they are.
"Therefore automatic enrolment into free school meals across schools in Norfolk and beyond would be really useful".
The findings in more detail:
A survey, commissioned by charity Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), found 16% of all pupils said they have missed secondary school at least once because they did not have something they needed to attend.
This figure increased among children who are eligible for free school meals (FSMs), with more than one in four (26%) saying this had been the case.
The charity is calling on the Government to expand free school meals to more families in England, as well as scrap the two-child benefit limit.
The poll, of 1,700 state secondary school pupils aged 11-18 in the UK, found 47% of those who missed school because they did not have what they needed said they did so because they did not have the right uniform or kit.
Across all pupils, those eligible for FSMs were around three times more likely to give this reason for missing school than their peers, the report said.
The poll, carried out by Survation between April and May, found 23% of those who missed school because they did not have what they needed said it was because they could not afford school meals.
The cost of getting to school was reported as a key reason for non-attendance by more than a quarter (26%) of children who had missed school because they did not have what they needed.
Meanwhile, 27% said a lack of money for trips meant they sometimes did not attend school.
What's the Government said on this?
A spokesperson said: "We are determined to reduce child poverty through wide-ranging action as part of our Child Poverty Taskforce, breaking the unfair link between background and opportunity.
"This Government has inherited a system with baked-in inequalities, which we're tackling head-on through our Plan for Change by rolling out free breakfast clubs in every primary, providing mental health support in every school, and investing over £3 billion in Pupil Premium to support those children who need it most.
"Through our Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, we are also changing the law to limit the number of branded items schools can require, which alongside free breakfast clubs could put £500 a year back into working parents' pockets."