Teachers report children going hungry

“The Guardian revealed some quite shocking figures about teachers having to feed children. But this has been going on for a long time – it isn’t anything new. Certainly in my school we are feeding the children ourselves – we have a number of children who regularly need to have a breakfast and a dinner because their families don’t get benefits and they’re not entitled to free school meals.

We also regularly contribute to the food banks in Coventry and we have a number of parents who regularly have to use the food banks. I think in a wealthy country, we should be judging it on whether we can feed our kids and we can’t – that needs to change, the only way that will change is with a redistribution of wealth across the board.”

Nicky Downes, Primary school teacher, Coventry

83% – Teachers report seeing children hungry in the mornings

40% – Some schools report as many as 4/10 first aid referrals last year were caused by a lack of breakfast

20% – Teachers say the increase in pupil hunger since the recession has been ‘dramatic’