Schools becoming 'A&E departments of communities', says new union leader
|
Version 0 of 1. Schools are becoming the “A&E departments of communities”, with teachers increasingly being called upon to support families struggling to deal with the impact of austerity, according to the new leader of the headteachers’ union. Tony Draper, headteacher of a primary school in Milton Keynes and is about to take over as president of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), said schools had no choice but to get involved when faced with a desperate family. The NAHT’s annual conference in Liverpool next week will highlight the growing pressure on schools to act as safety nets for the neighbourhoods they serve. The NAHT is expected to report that schools and teachers are helping in a growing number of ways, providing food, clothes, laundry and washing facilities for needy children and their families. “At my school, the amount of help and the different types of help we’re providing is increasing,” said Draper, whose school serves a disadvantaged community on the Lakes Estate, built as a London “overspill” estate in the 1970s. “In a way, schools are like the A&E departments of communities. We’re the first and last point of contact for many families. If we see a struggling family or we have a child in our class who needs help, we help. “There are no ifs or buts. There are no judgments about whether we have the capacity to help. We just have to get stuck in.” Draper, headteacher at Water Hall since 2003, said there had been “a big rise” in families requiring intervention from children’s services. The school has also found itself increasingly helping parents who are struggling with financial or housing issues, and some who cannot provide enough food for their families. To that end, Water Hall has scrapped learning mentors and now employs a dedicated family support worker, Emma Burrows, whose sole role is to support parents – advising them how to access food banks and where to go for advice on money, housing, evictions and benefits changes. Class teachers are left to get on with the job of teaching the school’s 315 children. Burrows is in huge demand. “More people are coming to ask me questions,” she said. “Every day, every hour, every morning, every afternoon.” Often there is a queue of parents waiting for her on a Monday morning, asking for help. One parent is currently ringing her eight times a day. Some families have had to move to temporary accommodation because of the bedroom tax; others have been evicted because they haven’t been able to keep up with their rent; and many are starting to worry about additional cuts to benefits that may follow the election. “They are hearing the stories about benefits being cut further and they’re getting really, really worried,” said Burrows. “It’s a strong community. They are great families. They want what’s best for their children – they really do. They just struggle. They don’t know where to go for help.” Many of the council services that would once have been available to support them were scrapped in 2011. Burrows tries to plug the gaps, and has spent time both in the housing department and the job centre, researching as much as she can about benefits and housing changes so that she can help parents. The school itself is a haven from the daily challenges facing families. It’s a new building, which opened its doors in 2008, with its own outdoor trim-trail, allotment and multi-sensory 4D learning space. It’s rated outstanding by Ofsted, with results that exceed the national average. Children enter through an enchanting inner courtyard with standing stones and silver birches, as Mozart plays through Bose loudspeakers buried in the mulch. The school has a high proportion of children who qualify for free school meals (62%) – a measure of the local level of deprivation. To make sure children are well fed and ready to learn, there’s a breakfast club open to all; in addition, all children in years five and six are given toast first thing, in case they haven’t eaten. There are free uniforms for those who cannot pay, free school trips for all, and two social work students who are permanently based in the school to give children the best possible support. “It’s an area of quite significant deprivation, but wonderful families and brilliant children,” said Draper, who is fiercely protective of the community he serves and upset by the hardship they suffer. “In our experience there has been a big rise in families that have experienced difficulties and the involvement of children’s services. “There are some families getting into difficulties on the estate who are needing regular food parcels. The bedroom tax has meant there can be issues with finances; families having to move; parents having to take jobs paying less than they were getting in benefits; families going way below the poverty line. Some of them are struggling quite severely. “But there are a lot of families who are in difficulties through no fault of their own. They are being harmed, and their children are being harmed, and these children deserve so much more than that.” |