Schools 'could get dedicated staff to tackle violence against girls'
However, a new survey conducted by TeacherTapp of up to 6,000 staff members found that 55 per cent of secondary teachers felt they lacked the confidence or expertise to teach PSHE effectively. Almost a third (31 per cent) of those delivering PSHE said they had never received any formal training, and 45 per cent said they were unsure how to address incidents such as witnessing a sexual assault.
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Evening Standard
01-05-2025
- Evening Standard
Schools 'could get dedicated staff to tackle violence against girls'
However, a new survey conducted by TeacherTapp of up to 6,000 staff members found that 55 per cent of secondary teachers felt they lacked the confidence or expertise to teach PSHE effectively. Almost a third (31 per cent) of those delivering PSHE said they had never received any formal training, and 45 per cent said they were unsure how to address incidents such as witnessing a sexual assault.
BBC News
30-01-2025
- BBC News
Derby head teacher says staff buy food and clothes for pupils
A head teacher has said staff regularly help struggling families with food, stationery and clothes. Almost half (45%) of senior teachers who responded to a survey commissioned by BBC News said their school had supported families financially in the last 12 months. Hazel Boyce, from Saint Benedict Catholic Voluntary Academy in Derby, said she was not surprised by the added: "It is a very common picture. I would say every single staff member in some way has done something." 'Always feed a child' Mrs Boyce says her school has a food bank, which was set up seven years ago and is mostly stocked by teachers. She added she also knows staff use their own money to buy stationery and equipment for teachers at the school have also given children "whole pencil cases stocked full of stuff", buy calculators and provide food. "Whether it is food or queuing up with children at dinner time and making sure they can have something extra... we will always feed a child," Mrs Boyce Wednesday, Mrs Boyce took a bag of clothes her son had grown out of into school, because "there is a family I know really benefit from that". BBC News commissioned survey tool Teacher Tapp to ask teachers and school leaders in England about the extra support their schools were providing for children. The survey also found two thirds (66%) of senior teachers say their school provided food for pupils to eat outside school hours in the last 12 approximately one in seven teachers (15%) say they have spent their own money to provide food to struggling families. Mrs Boyce said: "It is an increasing problem."She added one of the biggest challenges schools faced was that "external agencies - social care - for example CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services), social housing, are at stretched capacity". She said: "We have helped families to be re-homed."Mrs Boyce added every school "will have multiple stories to tell of going above and beyond to help families". In response to our survey findings on the extra support being offered by schools, a government spokesperson said schools funding was increasing by £2.3bn. They also pointed to the introduction of free breakfast clubs and a cap on the amount of expensive branded school uniform items parents have to buy."More widely we are developing a strategy to reduce child poverty which will be published this spring," they added.
BBC News
28-01-2025
- BBC News
Nearly half of schools give families financial help, teachers say
As the bell rings at St Nicholas Church of England Primary Academy in Boston, Lincolnshire, head teacher Mrs Booth spots a little boy coming through the gates with his hood pulled up, crying."Are you OK?" she asks in a soft voice, taking him to one tells her he's been hit around the head by an adult at violence is not the only issue teachers here are dealing with. Four families at the school are currently homeless. Many are in severe debt. There are pupils who have been the country, schools like St Nicholas are increasingly having to help families with problems that extend beyond the News commissioned survey tool Teacher Tapp to ask teachers and school leaders in England about the extra support their schools are providing for children. Teachers told the BBC that financial hardship, housing and mental health struggles are the issues schools have been helping families with the most over the last two half (45%) of senior teachers say their school has provided financial support for families in the last 12 monthsTwo thirds (66%) of senior teachers say their school provided food for pupils to eat outside school hours in the last 12 monthsApproximately one in seven teachers (15%) say they have spent their own money to provide food to struggling familiesA third of teachers (34%) say their school is helping children with teeth-brushing The school is in one of the most deprived parts of Lincolnshire. There are high levels of migration - 71 children moved in and out of the school during the last academic year - and for nearly 70% of the children, English is not their first Booth has already taken a call this morning about three vulnerable children who are missing - they've not been to school for weeks and all have tuberculosis, an infectious lung disease which can be serious if not treated."We think the family are in Europe," says Mrs Booth. "We're fairly sure they were fleeing from debt."After morning break, Mrs Curtis is putting together a grab bag for an eight-year-old pupil whose mum rang the school earlier to let them know they've had to leave their home in a hurry. She is OK and her child is safe, she says, but they have no belongings. A dozen pre-prepared bags, full of items a child might need if their family is in crisis, hang on pegs near the stationery cupboard. There is a teddy with the school's crest on it, a bedtime story and a school uniform. But the school helps with a wide range of other things too - from electricity meter cards to blankets. Mrs Curtis is now trying to find some pyjamas for the pupil in lunchtime, dinner lady Mrs Smalley keeps an eye on the children who don't have enough food at home. There are 85 children at St Nicholas who are currently eligible for free school meals, just under half of the school's pupils. The school is also taking part in a project to promote healthy eating - but the contents of the children's lunchboxes is an ongoing challenge. Children regularly turn up with left-over takeaways, or just chocolate and crisps. Assembly is one of the highlights of the school day, and the music is loud and joyous. Mrs Booth describes it as a lesson for "the mind, body and soul" and the hall is packed with children dancing and she joined St Nicholas as head teacher in 2019, the school was rated Inadequate by the schools inspectors at Ofsted. Morale was low and the school was failing children and staff. Five years on, St Nicholas is rated as Good and is part of the Infinity Academies Trust. Their motto is "let your light shine", and the school emblem is a lighthouse."It's important for us to provide sanctuary," Mrs Booth says. "You know you'll be loved, you'll be fed, watered, and you'll get a hug on the gate."Mrs Smith has been a teacher here for 21 years. She describes the huge changes she's seen since she began teaching."When I first started working in schools the children were dropped off, we taught them, and they went home," she says. "Now we help them with their food, we help them brush their teeth, we help them with behaviour, we help them with general life."How can we not help a child who is hungry or doesn't have clothes?" Despite the challenges at St Nicholas, there have been huge academic improvements here because of the focus on wellbeing. Of the children in Key Stage 1, 95% reached national standards on phonics in their latest stats, well above the national average and up from 61% before the St Nicholas doesn't just offer extra support to pupils - there is help for parents too, in the form of parenting courses and budgeting classes. The school recently laid on cooking classes for families, with a free air-fryer for those who complete the course to test their new skills at home. For those children who have a relative in prison, time is set aside in the school week to speak to them and show them their school work via a video Kerrie, who has a child in Year 4, reached out to the school when things were getting on top of her. "I've always struggled with my mental health, but it got worse," Kerrie says. "I couldn't cope. I spoke to the school and they were amazing. They helped with my daughter, they gave me a parenting course. It's not just a school, it is a family - and if they know you are struggling, they will check in on you."In response to the BBC's survey, Paul Whiteman from the NAHT school leaders' union told us it is "vital" that schools' time and budgets are freed up to focus on learning."There needs to be a greater safety net for children and families to get the support they need from central and local government and community services, and it's vital the government's child poverty taskforce delivers tangible recommendations which help address the root causes of poverty." The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which is currently going through parliament, has a wide-range of measures aimed at tackling poverty in schools, such as setting up breakfast clubs and limiting uniform costs, even as the bill's plans for academies have caused political will also make sure teachers and schools are always involved in decisions around safeguarding children in their area, and if a child's home environment is assessed as unsuitable or unsafe, local authorities have the power to intervene.A unique identifier number will be given to children across services, akin to an adult's national insurance number. In response to our survey findings on the extra support being offered by schools, a government spokesperson said schools funding was increasing by £2.3bn. They also pointed to the introduction of free breakfast clubs and a cap on the amount of expensive branded school uniform items parents have to buy."More widely we are developing a strategy to reduce child poverty which will be published this spring," they the school bell rings to signal the end of the day for pupils, Mrs Booth and her dedicated team are still hard at are regular calls to social care services, the police and the Home Office to deal with, as well as meetings with mental health support teams."My job is to see opportunities so these children can thrive in modern Britain," Mrs Booth says. "I couldn't call myself a head teacher if I was to say, 'That's not my job.'"
