02 January 2024 , 19:03
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Children cannot learn when they're hungry.
That's the message from the head of a London secondary school where pupils whose families get Universal Credit are now benefitting from free school meals. Jessica West, Principal of Ark Walworth Academy, in Southwark, said free school meals were vital to helping poorer children improve their life chances.
She told the Mirror: "It's just really simple for schools. If you are hungry, you cannot learn. That's just it... Young people on free school meals are vulnerable to underachievement in a number of ways because we know that in this country we have quite low rates of social mobility and that's been a real problem."
Ark Walworth Academy was selected as a pilot by Southwark Council to roll out free lunches to secondary school kids from Universal Credit families. The local authority is one of the few in the country that has been paying for hot dinners for all primary kids for the past decade.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced a £135million emergency scheme last year to pay for free school meals for all primary school kids in the Capital. Southwark Council has decided to use its share of the extra funds to widen provision in secondary schools.
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Many pupils from Year 7 to Year 12 are able to get free school meals at the Ark Walworth Academy, in Southwark (Humphrey Nemar)Under current rules, children in state schools in England can claim free school meals up to the end of Year 2. After that, they are eligible only if their parent or carer receives certain benefits. Households on Universal Credit only qualify if their income is less than just £7,400 from work.
An estimated 900,000 school age children who live in poverty miss out due to strict eligibility rules, according to the Child Poverty Action Group. Research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation found London had the highest destitution levels in the country in 2022, with two in five children living in poverty.
Around 70% of the pupils at Ark Walworth Academy whose families received Universal Credit were missing out free school meals before the scheme was launched last year.
"It's a really, really tricky time," Ms West said. Ark Walworth Academy has stepped in to help families with free breakfasts, free fruit at break time, and runs a tuck shop to encourage children to eat more healthily. It also gives out uniform vouchers and runs a swap shop to help hard-up parents. But free school meals are critical.
She said: "All of the research points to the fact that healthy free school meals give better outcomes for young people. Better outcomes for young people are better outcomes for all people. That is the end of the story. We reduce their vulnerability to lack of aspiration, we reduce their vulnerability to low income jobs, we reduce their vulnerability to poverty."
Ms West added: "This is only the beginning of the work that's required in order to make sure that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds can flourish. But it is really an important step - you can't miss it out... Making sure young people are fed has got to be a priority. It's hard to believe we are still talking about it."
Southwark Council Leader Cllr Kieron Williams and Deputy Leader Cllr Jasmine Ali joined pupils and staff at the school to learn about the benefits of a guaranteed healthy meal each day. Year 9 pupil Zuzanna said: “We get given free fruit in morning break by our school. Morning break and having a school lunch helps me to concentrate in class.”
Olivia, a Year 11 pupil, said parents were struggling to afford lunches for their kids due to cost of living pressures. She said: "Free school meals should be there everyone. We are all human. We need to fuel our bodies, because we are still growing. We need to fuel our brains, because we are still learning.
“The best bit about free school meals at primary school was everyone coming together. It was a moment in the day for unity and togetherness. This is more restricted when you get to secondary school. That’s why I think everyone should get free school meals."
Cllr Williams said the eligibility threshold for free school meals was "shamefully low", which meant increasing numbers of children were going without. He said: “The evidence for free healthy school meals couldn’t be clearer after a decade of doing the right thing for Southwark’s children. Children are better nourished and achieving better results."
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London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “I know from personal experience what a lifeline free school meals can be which is why I have provided an unprecedented £135million to provide the meals to all state primary school children in London. I’m delighted that Southwark council have been able to use their additional funding from City Hall to extend their great work in the borough and ensure that all secondary school children whose parents receive Universal Credit receive free school meals.”