‘Some children have bread with no filling’: Primary school headteacher lays bare the cost of living crisis

A primary school headteacher has said some of her pupils are eating “just a slice of bread” at school as the cost-of-living crisis crunches families’ ability to buy food.

Lisa Williams, headteacher at Rushey Green Primary School in Culverley Road, Catford, said she had “never known anything like” it and that the school had to step in and provide meals out of its own budget.

The comments came as inflation rates soared to 10.1 per cent and a survey by food charity Chefs In Schools found that a quarter of students nationally were skipping lunch because their families could not afford it.

Ms Williams said: “I’ve never known anything like this during my career. It is getting worse.

“Children are coming to school hungry and we’re caught between a rock and a hard place. If they’re hungry, they can’t concentrate, so our resources are worthless, but if the budget goes on school food, the resources suffer.

“With packed lunches, some children have bread with no filling, or just a slice of bread. We see cheap snacks that are low on nutrition.

“As we get towards the end of the week or month and the money runs out at home, it often gets worse.

“It’s heartbreaking. Parents are struggling. This isn’t about not wanting to feed their children. It’s about not being able to afford nutritious choices.”

There have been growing calls for the Government to expand the free school meals programme.

England’s school meal eligibility threshold is the most restrictive of all the devolved nations –only families who earn below £7,400 are entitled to free school meals.

At Rushey Green, they make all food from scratch and are able to use surplus produce to ensure there is enough to go around, but for school head chef Luke Kemsley, who had free school meals himself as a child, change is needed to support schools and families. 

Luke said: “Some children don’t have enough food in their packed lunch box, but they pretend otherwise or they’ll stay away from the dining hall because they’re embarrassed. We’ll seek them out and ensure they eat. 

“I look back and feel fortunate to have had free school meals myself. I grew up in South-east London, with a single mother, and as a family we really didn’t have much money, but I did get food at school. I don’t know where I’d have been without it.

“We all know that being hungry impacts learning and had I been hungry daily, like lots of children are now, I would not have reached my potential.”

Lewisham councillor Chris Barnham, cabinet member for children, young people and community safety, said: “We should be ashamed that in modern Britain children come to school hungry – the Government simply has to grip this crisis. We are doing all we can as a council to support children on free school meals, but continued government funding cuts make it ever harder to help.”

Pictured top: Lisa Willimas, headteacher at Rushey Green Primary School (Picture: Lewisham council)