Teachers say they are seeing “Victorian conditions” with pupils arriving at school hungry and not wearing the right clothes needed for the weather.
The NASUWT teachers’ union says schools and teachers are increasingly having to deal with the consequences of poor housing and poverty.
Teachers reported bringing in their own food to school to give to children.
The Conservatives said the number of children in poverty had fallen by 300,000 under the coalition government.
The Liberal Democrats said they had helped families by introducing free school meals for all infant children.
Tristram Hunt, Labour’s shadow education secretary, warned of the “quiet indignity of poverty that can wreak havoc with a child’s confidence”.
He said poverty was one of the “biggest barriers” to pupils achieving in school.

Socks and coats

Claims about poverty in the school-age population were heard at the NASUWT teachers’ union annual conference in Cardiff.
The union asked members for their experiences and received almost 2,500 responses.

It was not a representative sample of teachers, but among those replying more than two in three reported seeing pupils come to school hungry.

“Children in 2015 should not be hungry and coming to school with no socks on and no coats – some children are living in Victorian conditions – in the inner cities,” said one unnamed teacher.
Almost one in four of the teachers who responded said they had brought in food for pupils who were hungry, and an even higher proportion had seen the school feeding pupils.
More than three in four had seen pupils arriving at school with “inappropriate clothing” such as no socks or coats in bad weather.
Similar numbers claimed that a bad diet meant that pupils were unable to concentrate on their work.
More children were being sent home with letters about unpaid school meals and pupils who were sick were still being sent to school because parents could not afford to take time off work, claimed teachers.
The comments from the survey suggest teachers felt that they were having to cope with the wider problems linked to family hardship, such as children living in temporary accommodation or relying on food banks.

Healthy food

“Poverty and homelessness take a physical and emotional toll on children. They often cannot concentrate when they are in school because they are tired and hungry, have no space to do homework,” said NASUWT general secretary Chris Keates.

“Schools cannot be expected to pick up the pieces.”

Speaking at her own union’s conference in Harrogate, National Union of Teachers president Philipa Harvey said: “Many of us will have provided breakfast for children so that they can cope with the demands of a school day as well as the teachers and other staff who are providing school uniform, books, coats.”
A Liberal Democrat spokesman said that as part of the coalition government they had introduced “free early years education for the poorest two year olds, and free school meals for all infant children”.
“We agree that there is more to do to ease the squeeze on family budgets and build a fairer society. We will cut income tax by a further £400 for low and middle earners, and ensure more families can access free childcare.
“Free school meals help children learn, make sure children eat more healthy food, and save parents money. So we will also aim to extend free school meals to all children in primary school.”
A Conservative spokesman said under the coalition government “the number of children living in poverty has fallen by 300,000”.
He added that because of the pupil premium, the poorest pupils are getting an extra £2.5bn targeted at their education each year, which is already closing the attainment gap with their peers.
“Because of our policies, there are more jobs than ever before, wages are rising faster than prices and with the lowest inflation on record, family budgets are starting to go further.
“The NASUWT should recognise how the Conservatives have rescued the economy, and through that, delivering the jobs that secure a better future for families.”
Labour’s Tristram Hunt, speaking to the NASUWT conference, had pledged that Labour would renew the aim to eradicate child poverty by 2020.
He told delegates: “If a child has no food to eat, no safe and warm space to call their own, no books to read, no uniform to wear, no money for transport to school, then that child cannot possibly be learning at their full potential.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-32181848

 

Check out the New Dyslexie Font that I’ve downloaded from my last blog post. What does everyone think of it?
People with Dyslexia, does this help with your reading? Can you read quicker now? Does the text look less daunting?

I would love some feedback about it.

I feel the Dyslexie Font is easy on the eye and has a very personalised style. This has benefited me loads when preparing teaching resources and child progression reports.

This is such a great step into helping students and everyone with Dyslexia (mild or severe). I will be downloading this font shortly to help aid my students. It’s important to make people aware of the everyday struggles that people face with dyslexia.

Children with dyslexia have difficulty learning to read due to one or more information processing problems such as visual perceptual or auditory perceptual deficits. Many but not all children with dyslexia have difficulty with reversals of numbers, letters or words. Some dyslexic children have difficulties in letter or word reversals when reading and writing, poor handwriting and reverse letters or words when spelling words. They have difficulty understanding or remembering what they have just read and repeating information as to what has been said to them.

A specialised font to aid people within reading and writing, will support everyone’s learning or everyday tasks in life.

http://themighty.com/2014/11/this-man-invented-a-font-to-help-people-with-dyslexia-read/

People have different views about apprenticeships, but personally I feel it’s a perfect alternative to a full-time University place.
Apprenticeships allows you to develop your skills further and you gain hands on experience, that every employer is seeking when recruiting new members of staff within a company.
You learn while you are in a workplace, which means, minimal disruption and maximum impact. Also, you get paid minimal wage while you learn and you gain a certificate in your specific skilled area.
What more could you want?
The Government need to re-address and emphasis the benefits of Apprenticeships and invest money into this area of learning. Apprenticeships provide you with the skilled workers you need for the FUTURE.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-31819477

This article is about banning Junk Foods and providing cooking and nutrition lessons in Schools in the next Election.

It’s important that we set a good example and ensure the next generation has the best quality of life and education combined.

Eating a healthy, balanced diet and engaging in regular physical activity can help children to function properly at school and staying alert.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-31661794

PARENTS: How to identify if your child has Dyslexia within their learning and basic everyday things.
These are just indications and hints to analyse how your child learns.
If you suspect they are Dyslexic due to meeting alot of these criteria, please speak to the school as they can arrange Dyslexic Screening and Assessment.

General – If your child takes awhile to process information, poor concentration, has difficulty follow instructions and is forgetful of words.

Patrice tutored both of my girls in English who are in year 8 & year 5. I was very pleased as I found Patrice very methodical in her approach to tutoring the girls. Her use of the school reports to see where their weakness were impressed me. This then enabled Patrice to use this information for planning her tutoring sessions. Patrice was always very happy to discuss the girls progress whenever approached by myself or my husband.

Both my girls enjoyed being tutored by her and loorked forward to her sessions.

My son has ASD and is therefore not an easy child to work 1-1 with as his concentration levels are very variable. Patrice quickly gained his confidence and they soon developed a great relationship. He listens and is attentive throughout his sessions and retains what he has been learning and is able to use it in other settings.

Thanks Patrice.

Patrice has a natural ability to engage with children and make learning fun. My daughter always looked forward to Patrice’s lessons and was always keen to share all the interesting thigns that she had learnt.

Patrice has been key to her making great strides in her Maths and English.