Education Scotland: Teachers and frontline staff increasingly find crippling poverty means many Scottish pupils just not 'school ready'

The impact of the cost-of-living crisis has been laid bare by Aberlour children’s charity

It sounds Dickensian, but as temperatures plummet in Scotland this winter there are children who are sitting through school each day with “soaking wet feet”.

The holes in their shoes, and other inadequate clothing, are just the tip of the iceberg for some youngsters, however.

Many might also have to try to sleep at night in cold homes with no bed or bedding, or be forced to share with siblings or parents. And a growing number leave home each morning without having any breakfast.

Image from Aberlour appeal.

Poverty like this is not new in Scotland, but the cost-of-living crisis is leaving more and more families on the brink this year, according to SallyAnn Kelly, the chief executive of the children’s charity Aberlour, which runs an urgent assistance fund.

She said teachers, as well as other frontline workers, are now regularly involved in applying for emergency grants for hard-hit families, because they see how many of their pupils are going without the basics. They are not “school ready”.

Ms Kelly said she believed these issues were a significant underlying cause of poorer behaviour and falling attendance rates in Scottish schools.

One teacher from the Central Belt of Scotland, who works with Aberlour, lifted the lid on the scale of the crisis.

“We are hearing about a lot of barriers at home and it’s definitely impacting education,” the teacher said. “I have kids coming in in the morning and they’ve not had breakfast.

"How can they be expected to do their times tables and concentrate on sums when they’re hungry?

“The weather is getting colder, and we’ve got children coming to school with holes in their shoes. It sounds like a cliché, but that is a reality.

"I can’t imagine being asked to go and do a full day at my job with soaking wet feet, but this is the situation some families are facing.”

A major international survey of close to 700,000 pupils aged 15 found last week that 11 per cent of pupils in the UK said they missed a meal at least once a week, which was higher than the 8 per cent average across participating countries.

Meanwhile, a head teacher of an Edinburgh secondary school told The Scotsman last month how she would stand outside the entrance with a tray of cereal bars each morning because of the levels of hunger among her pupils.

The teacher who spoke to Aberlour did likewise. “I always have snacks for kids who have forgotten their play piece because I think it must be the saddest thing to see others getting snacks out if you don’t have any” they said.

"We also have some warm clothes for children to wear, but understandably, some parents don’t want to be seen as getting ‘hand-me-downs’.”

The fall-out from the Covid-19 pandemic also continues to reverberate through society, including in schools.

The teacher said: "Younger ones were used to being at home where they had the attention of their parent or carer, so coming back to school with a full classroom, they are struggling to not have the full attention of the teacher.

"I’ve also noticed a lot of speech and language issues because children weren’t able to attend nursery or school, so issues have not been spotted until later. This is even more common among families who are living in poverty – I’m hearing about lots of parents who are struggling to make it to appointments to get their kids assessed, so the problems continue.”

An Edinburgh-based social work assistant, who also works with Aberlour, described the impact of the crisis on her work.

"There are so many kids not coping with being back in school, so we have been getting a lot of referrals through schools because the waiting list for professional referrals for mental health is about two years,” she said.

"We’re definitely hearing a lot about a drop in school attendance. It’s a shame because you just want the kids to feel good about themselves, but they can’t – they’ve not got great home environments, so they won’t invite their friends around or their clothes aren’t looking good, so they’re getting picked on.”

She added: “I am seeing children that have unclean bedding or sometimes no bedding. Some have broken beds.

"Some have no storage or anywhere to keep their clothes, because of the terrible housing problems in Edinburgh right now. They’ve only just got enough money to pay rent and by the time they’ve paid their bills, especially with the rising costs and buying food, they don’t have money for anything else.

"So, if their kids need winter clothes, they have no way of buying them warm stuff.”

Aberlour is running a campaign to raise money for its urgent assistance fund, which provides emergency support to disadvantaged families through cash grants, typically within 48 hours, for essentials like food, clothing, beds and energy costs.

Ms Kelly said the quick turnaround time was crucial for the families in greatest need.

One such example was a 38-year-old mother-of-three from Falkirk. "We first got in touch with Aberlour a few years ago when I was in desperate need of help to get a new fridge freezer,” she said.

"Ours broke and my son is a diabetic, so it is our lifeline for his insulin, and it became a really dangerous situation.

"I was struggling for cash, but I found out about the urgent assistance fund, and within 48 hours I had the money to buy a new one.”

The charity also helped the mother’s eldest daughter, who did not want to go to school because she was being bullied.

The team supported her transition to a new school and helped to build the youngster’s confidence by organising bowling and ice skating trips. “Aberlour is incredible,” the mother said. “The turning point for us as a family came when I asked for their help."