Poor children returning to school ‘malnourished’ following increase in ‘school holiday hunger’

The number of poor children going hungry during the school holidays is increasing to “heart-breaking” levels, teachers across the country have warned.

As many as four in five staff (80 per cent) reported a rise in “holiday hunger” over the past two years, with parents of children who qualify for free school meals (FSM) during term-time struggling to find the money to fund extra meals during school holidays.

In a survey led by the National Union of Teachers (NUT), 78 per cent of the 600 teachers polled said they recognised children arriving at school hungry. More than a third (37 per cent) went as far as to say pupils were returning after the school holidays showing signs of malnutrition. Read more