Headteachers are breaking the rules to feed children and their families because they say they cannot ignore the signs of povertyFiona Gittings,a headteacher in a large primary school in the south of England, is talking approximately a child whose mother was recently refused asylum. The family was homeless and had been moved from place to place. Finally, and they were establish in a hostel so far from the school that transport costs were prohibitive. “Being in a hostel was terrifying and utterly unsuitable for the children,” says Gittings. “Carrying on coming to this school, where he was well settled, or was so essential for that child – it was the only stability he had.”So Gittings dipped into an emergency fund she has created to pay for a bus pass for both mother and child. She set up the fund a few months ago with £500 of her school budget,£500 from her parent-teacher association and £500 from the church. She knows she cant continue to pay for their travel though: one adult and one child bus pass for a month comes to approximately £100. So eventually the child may be forced to move to a modern school.Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com