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Across England, schools are running food banks to help the children and their families. Research suggests that 21% of schools in England now offer some form of food charity.
In our recently published book, we carried out research at 12 schools and nurseries with food banks across England, interviewing 30 teachers, headteachers and school staff who ran the food banks. We wanted to explore why there has been such considerable growth in the education sector offering food to families, and the impact it has on children, parents and school staff.
Many of the schools and nurseries that we visited as part of our research initially set up the food bank in response to the COVID pandemic. This is in keeping with findings from previous research, although the cost-of-living crisis was the stimulus for others.
Learning better
Staff in the schools we visited told us that children could not learn if they were hungry. “You know what it’s like when you have nothing to eat and you’ve got nothing in your belly, you can’t concentrate,” one teacher said.
Through addressing children’s hunger, the school staff we spoke to believed, schools can improve children’s concentration and motivation to learn.
This echoed the views of almost 18,000 teachers in a 2023 National Education Union survey: 87% of school staff in the survey said that pupils they taught were unable to concentrate as a result of poverty, and over half said that they or their school were providing extra food for children during the school day.
One headteacher in our study talked about the impact of the food bank on one of the children in their school:
So he came in all full of beans. ‘I’ve got all gold. Look at my work. Can I have a sticker? ’ And I was like, ‘Someone’s had their Weetabix,’ and they’re like, ‘Yeah, I did. I had that special Weetabix’, … And then it turned out the dad had been into the food bank … that’s why, that’s why I’m doing this.
The teachers believed that having a food bank at school also led to an improvement in learning and wellbeing through other means, such as reduced family stress. “If you meet the need of the parent, they’re then available to meet the need of the child,” one school staff member said.
The food banks also helped build closer relationships between families and the school. Teachers told us that families appreciated the support and became more willing to approach the school for help with other issues.
The caring role of schools
Beyond the need to improve learning outcomes, however, the main justification for running a food bank was the moral imperative to support families who needed it and could not access help anywhere else. In the words of one teacher: “We’re humans and our natural instinct is to care. That’s why I came into this profession. It’s a caring profession.”
The school staff told us about the work that went into running the foodbanks. They sourced food from local food redistribution charities, companies and other families at the school. Often, food was delivered, but sometimes it required collection. In some cases, parent volunteers helped pick up donations. A headteacher told us about how she collected food from a distribution centre:
I would have literally had to go and root around and find what I needed … At least I am not teaching all day every day. So actually, I can take an hour and a half out – even though it’s only in term – to go and drive there, park up, open my boot, get the two pallets. And it was all heavy stuff – tins – [to] get here.
We asked the people in our research whether schools should run food banks. Most replied positively, restating the impact that the food bank had upon the learning and wellbeing of children. Others were pragmatic, accepting that right now, there is no alternative support. However, some were critical, suggesting that the government should find alternative solutions to the issue of child poverty.
While the provision of food for children and families in education settings may be having a beneficial effect, it is not sustainable.
The burden of child poverty does not fall evenly on schools. Those that provide food banks are disproportionately located in areas with more pupils from deprived backgrounds, and schools with more pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to receive poor Ofsted grades. Operating a food bank requires significant time, energy and funding, none of which are recognised in education policy, or by Ofsted, the schools inspectorate.
The work that education staff are doing to support children in this way should be celebrated and rewarded, although it is not currently recognised in measures of a school’s effectiveness. But this also risks normalising the presence of food banks in schools. One teacher argued: “Our job is to look after them and educate them and care for them while they’re at school, not to feed them at the weekends or holidays, but we can’t help but be concerned about that.”
The government should recognise the work that schools and early years settings are doing in this area and ensure that they have the resources needed. Government action to abolish the two-child benefit cap would also support families, lifting 300,000 children out of poverty.
The government is currently developing a child poverty strategy. These measures would be welcome inclusions.
Sharon Vince received funding from the British Education Research Association and the Monday Charitable Trust for the projects on food banks.
Alice Bradbury receives funding from the Helen Hamlyn Trust which funds the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Pedagogy at UCL. She has also received research funding from the British Education Research Association and the Monday Charitable Trust for the projects on food banks. She is a member of the Labour Party and the Universities and College Union.
