Wiltshire teacher says they're financially supporting families in poverty
Concerns have been raised at the National Education Union conference
A Wiltshire headteacher has been speaking out about the lengths schools are going to, to support children in poverty when they come into the classroom.
Schools are paying for cookers, beds and food for families - with more pupils are missing out on extracurricular activities and school trips as households can't afford them.
Concerns have been raised at the National Education Union (NEU) annual conference in Harrogate, with school leaders describing how staff are stepping in to support pupils and their families.
Michael Allen, deputy headteacher of a primary school in Wiltshire, said some Reception pupils are not toilet trained, or they are anxious, and schools are paying for clothes for them to change into during the day.
He said: "Schools are now being asked to do so much more for the children that come in. We know children are cold when they come to school.
"We know that we can give out some payments to pay for heating, but we try and have to plan that ahead.
"It's more worries for teachers and leaders where we want to be focusing on teaching, inspiring people, and we are really sometimes mired in things that we feel that maybe others should have picked up before they get to school."
Chris Dutton, who represents school leaders who are NEU members and is a deputy headteacher in the South West, said: "Lots of school budget is spent on things that you wouldn't necessarily associate with school budget.
"So providing basic equipment for families, providing things like cookers, providing microwaves.
"Families are in poverty and they can't afford to pay for some of these things themselves, so sometimes schools have to step in and we provide basic equipment, basic food.
"Some schools are having to make that difficult decision and actually decide what's right to do.
"And actually it shouldn't be coming out of school budget, but we shouldn't be having children living in these circumstances."
A poll of more than 11,600 NEU teacher members in English state schools suggests that nearly two in five (39%) had seen physical underdevelopment among their pupils as a result of poverty.
The majority of respondents reported having seen children come to school in unclean, damaged or ill-fitting clothes or shoes (65%) and showing signs of hunger during the school day (59%) due to poverty.
Last month, data published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) showed there were 4.45 million children estimated to be in households in relative low income, after housing costs, in the year to March 2024.
The latest figure is the highest since comparable records for the UK began in 2002/03.
The Government's child poverty taskforce is due to present a strategy in spring.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the NEU, said: "It is profoundly worrying that in one of the richest countries in the world, we continue to expect schools to plug the gap.
"The reality is that child poverty is rising, not falling.
"Instead of reducing it, the Government is making the lives of 4.5 million young people and their parents more difficult.
"Whether it's the two-child limit or welfare cuts, the end result is the same: more suffering for the most vulnerable in society.
"A Government calling for 'high and rising standards' cannot at the same time stand idly by in the face of high and rising rates of child poverty.
"The Government must take action."
A Department for Education (DfE) spokeswoman said: "No child should be living in poverty, which is why we have already taken wide-ranging action to break the unfair link between background and opportunity, led by our cross-government child poverty taskforce.
"We have also tripled investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million - with delivery of free meals and childcare to begin in up to 750 schools from this month - and increased pupil premium to over £3 billion to provide additional support for those children that need it most."