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| Emily Jones |
This is the latest news report from the Education pages of the BBC News and it is not a pretty editorial; “Many pupils living in poverty come to school hungry, tired and in worn-out clothes, a survey by the ATL teachers' union has suggested.
More than three-quarters of 627 primary, secondary and college teachers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who responded to the survey believed they taught pupils living in poverty. About 40% said the problem had increased since the recession. More than 85% of the teachers who responded to the survey said they believed that poverty had a negative impact on the well-being of pupils they taught.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-13081777# More than three-quarters of 627 primary, secondary and college teachers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who responded to the survey believed they taught pupils living in poverty. About 40% said the problem had increased since the recession. More than 85% of the teachers who responded to the survey said they believed that poverty had a negative impact on the well-being of pupils they taught.”
Since setting up Education Recycle we have found many children in Hertfordshire who are living in poverty, and whose family cannot afford the uniforms and equipment needed for school. This is why we have set up our community site to give a platform for members of our local community to exchange, give and take educational items – all for free.
We believe strongly that the best way out of the poverty trap is through education, but how can children change the cycle of poverty if they do not have the needed items for school? We have heard many heartbreaking stories on our journey of setting up our site of children being bullied for wearing the wrong school uniform or ill fitting uniform. Children being punished for wearing the wrong uniform or not having the correct books and children not being able to join in with school activities, for example P.E because they do not have the equipment. I had a Mum in tears at my front door the other day because she could not afford the very expensive school uniform – we found her the uniform and she was given it for free.
A bit of my own story; I was on benefits and had no way out of the poverty trap but I decided to change my future to show my daughter that it could be done. I embarked on a law degree at Hertfordshire University. It has been a struggle – the books every year come to about £300 a year, the travel, the laptop, the paper, the printing costs, the trips...the list is endless. I have had to do my degree without a lot of the equipment needed, but I am in my 4th year and I will finish and I will get a good job. Education will get my family and I out of poverty, but it is hard studying without heating because we have run out on the meter! Imagine then how hard it is for a child...
No parent wants to have to say “No” to their child to going on a school trip or “No” again to them wanting to go swimming but believe me when it comes to a choice of eating, heating and roof over their heads that comes first. Do you really believe that parents with very low incomes want their child to be in a school uniform which they know is far too small...NO, but they often have no choice. I believe that if these children were given the chance to do these activities, school trips and had the items to have hobbies and their school work, it would give them the confidence in themselves to not want to be jobless , to go on benefits or to go on to crime in adulthood – all they need is a bit of belief in them.
If as a community we stopped thinking it wasn’t our problem and that it was the parents fault then we maybe could start moving forward. I think that it is important to look after all of the children in our community and this way give all children the chance to do well as adults. No child starts life with the dream of being on the benefit system, they have bigger and better dreams than that.
To me it is simple; if we start looking after each other we can achieve so much more as a community.
We run the site as a family from my husband, the children to the grandparents – there is in all 11 of us in the family running the site, picking up uniforms from local schools, e mailing and doing fun runs! We make nothing from doing this and my new husband and I spent our wedding gift money to build the site but we are not in this to make money -we wanted to prove that “community” still exists and prove that our theory was correct that by working together as a community change was possible...only time will tell!
All I know is that we care about the children down our street and I would not want one of them to not be able to reach for their dreams because of lack of money. All children deserve a chance and as adults we should all work to make it possible for each and every one of them to reach their full potential.
Please support us and sign up to our site and start advertising your no longer needed school items – www.hertfordshire.educationrecycle.net
We would like to say thank you to Cllr Lynne Sparks and the Howe Dell Childrens Centre for supporting us and donating school items to us from the start.
Emily Jones
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