Extend free school meals: Marcus Rashford vows to fight on
After forcing prime minister Boris Johnson into a climb down over his refusal to fund free school meals during school holidays, Marcus Rashford now vows to see FSMs extended to cover 1.5m more pupils
Footballer Marcus Rashford has vowed to continue to lead the campaign to end child food poverty after forcing the government to back down over its refusal to fund free meals during school holidays.
Prime minister Boris Johnson was forced into a climb down over free school meals (FSMs) after more than 1.1 million people signed Mr Rashford's petition calling for change.
MPs had recently voted against proposals to fund FSMs during the October half-term break as an increasingly desperate Mr Johnson tried to argue that the government £63m emergency funding to councils, unveiled in June, would cover FSM holiday provision.
However, on November 8, the government unveiled the so-called Covid Winter Grand Scheme, worth £170m, which it said would support ‘children, families and the most vulnerable over winter’ and will be run by councils.
This funding will cover welfare assistant grants to be given out by local authorities to needy households to cover food and bills from December 1 to March 31.
It also confirmed that the Holiday Activities and Food programme will be expanded to cover Easter, summer and Christmas in 2021 at a cost of £220m. These programmes should reach all FSM children.
Meanwhile, Healthy Start vouchers for eligible pregnant women or those with young children will rise from £3.10 to £4.25 a week from April.
It means that the government has now met two of the three demands made in Mr Rashford's petition. However, the footballer-turned-campaigner has now vowed to continue his work to achieve his third goal – an expansion of FSMs to cover all under-16s from families on Universal Credit. If achieved, this could support an additional 1.5 million children from disadvantaged families.
The government's official press notice of the announcement made no reference to Mr Rashford's campaign, although the prime minister did telephone him on November 7 to deliver the news.
Mr Rashford, whose Child Food Poverty Task Force has been working alongside a broad coalition of campaigners including the Food Foundation, said: ‘I had a good conversation with the prime minister to better understand the proposed plan, and I very much welcome the steps that have been taken. There is still so much more to do, and my immediate concern is the approximate 1.7 million children who miss out on FSMs, holiday provision and Healthy Start vouchers because their family income isn't quite low enough.
‘I am fully committed to this cause and I will fight for the rest of my life for it. I don't want any child to go through what I went through, and any parent to experience what my mother experienced. I now call on the government to collaborate with the Child Food Poverty Taskforce to guarantee that no child does.
‘I am fully committed to this cause and I will fight for the rest of my life for it. I don't want any child to go through what I went through, and any parent to experience what my mother experienced. I now call on the government to collaborate with the Child Food Poverty Taskforce to guarantee that no child does.’
‘As a collective we are so powerful and we all have a role to play in this, whether it be volunteering, donating, or as simple as a kind word. I'm overwhelmed with pride that we have made such significant progress. We will not give up on our children. I'm going to bed thankful tonight but under no illusion that there is still a lot more work to be done.’
Food Foundation data has shown a dramatic spike in FSM registrations this term, with as many as 900,000 children aged eight and above having been newly registered for FSM since September (see panel, opposite).
Furthermore, in June, a report from Save The Children and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation found that 43 per cent of families claiming Universal Credit or Child Tax Credits had already cut back on food because of the Covid-19 lockdown (Maddison, 2020).
The financial impact of the pandemic is set to push more families into poverty, too. Already in March, household income statistics (for 2018/19) showed that 4.2 million children (around 30 per cent of all UK children) now live below the poverty line, with 72 per cent of these living in working families (DWP, 2020).
And research from the Children's Society published last month suggests that an estimated 885,000 children are living in non-FSM families where parents are struggling to cover the costs of feeding their children during a school day.
Anna Taylor, executive director of the Food Foundation, said: ‘This is a big win for disadvantaged children. A win for all those brave parents and children who have spoken up about their experiences of food poverty.
‘Funding programmes worth more than £400m that will improve the lives of more than 1.7 million children over the next 12 months – together this represents significant progress on two of the three calls in Marcus Rashford's petition and the National Food Strategy. But we must keep in mind that a similar number of disadvantaged children will continue to miss out on the benefits of FSMs and Healthy Start because the qualifying income criteria are currently set far too low. Children's food poverty, like the pandemic, will not go away until we have a lasting solution in place. We've started the journey, thanks to the government's commitment, and we need to see it through.’
Going hungry? Around 4.2 million children now live below the poverty line, with 72 per cent of these living in working families (DWP, 2020)
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: ‘We are at a loss to understand why this scheme could not have been introduced in time for the October half-term holiday which has recently finished.
‘Nevertheless, the commitment over the next few months is a positive step forward and should help to address the fact that the financial circumstances of many struggling families will have worsened because of the Covid emergency.
‘We would like to see more detail about the longer term plan to greatly increase the funding available for the holiday activities and food programme.’
Nick Brook, deputy general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, added: ‘While we would strongly encourage all eligible children to take part in activities during holiday periods, we would question whether provision of food to those going hungry should be dependent upon them attending an activity, which for a whole host of reasons might not be suitable, available or accessible for particular groups.’
Free school meal registrations on the rise as families struggle to feed their children
New data gathered in September estimates that as many as 900,000 children aged eight and above have been newly registered for FSMs (Food Foundation, 2020).
Published by the Food Foundation as part of footballer Marcus Rashford's on-going #EndChildFoodPoverty campaign, the FSM research estimates that 29 per cent of children are now claiming free meals – the equivalent of 2.2 million nationwide. Of these, it says that 42 per cent are newly registered, which equates to around 900,000 young people. The findings are based on a survey of more than 1,000 children and more than 2,300 parents/carers.
The data shows that two-thirds of the newly registered children are from families where the main earners report being in higher income occupations. However, 32 per cent of households have experienced a fall in income since March.
Many schools have stopped serving traditional lunches due to Covid safety measures, the data shows, with only 32 per cent of the children reporting being able to access hot lunches.
The survey also finds that eight per cent of children report that their school canteen is closed, 10 per cent say they have been asked to bring packed lunches, while three per cent say they have skipped lunch entirely.
Responding to the Food Foundation research, the National Association of Head Teachers pointed out that one in 10 children who are eligible for FSMs currently miss out on their entitlement, meaning that even the stark figures in the research do not tell the whole story of child food poverty.
General secretary Paul Whiteman said: ‘Free school meals at least guarantee that children get one nutritious meal a day.
‘We must do all that we can to extend that entitlement to every child that is going hungry, and we must fix the problems in society that cause families to fall in to the poverty trap.’
Further information and resources
- Department for Work and Pensions (DWP): Households below average income: 1994/95 to 2018/19, March 2020: https://bit.ly/2WXECAE
- Maddison: A lifeline for our children, Joseph Rowntree Foundation & Save the Children, June 2020: https://bit.ly/37D7Hoi
- UK Parliament Petitions: End child food poverty, Marcus Rashford: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/554276/
Mental health problems now likely to be affecting one in six children, says NHS
The last three years have seen a further rise in mental health problems among young people, with the Covid-19 pandemic one of a number of contributing factors identified by researchers
One in six children aged five to 16 now have a probable mental health disorder, the NHS has confirmed.
This represents a notable rise since 2017, the last time research was carried out, when the comparable figure was one in nine.
The research involved 3,570 five to 22-year-olds who were surveyed both in 2017 and in July of this year, shortly after the Covid-19 lockdown and in the midst of the pandemic.
In 2017, 10.8 per cent of five to 16-year-olds were found to have a probable mental health disorder (rising to 12.8 per cent of five to 19-year-olds).
In 2020, this figure has risen to 16 per cent of five to 16-year-olds, with increased rates for both boys (from 11.4 to 16.7 per cent) and girls (from 10.3 to 15.2 per cent).
The new figures have been published by NHS Digital in its report, Mental health of children and young people in England 2020 (NHS, 2020).
Broken down further, they show that among primary-age children (five to 10-year-olds), 14.4 per cent now have a probable mental health disorder compared to 9.4 per cent in 2017. Boys are responsible for most of this increase, with rates having risen from 11.5 to 17.9 per cent.
Among secondary-age children (11 to 16), the proportion with a probable mental health disorder has increased from 12.6 to 17.6 per cent. What's more, the likelihood of experiencing difficulties increases with age for young women, with 27.2 per cent of females in the 17 to 22 age bracket having a probable mental health disorder in 2020. This compares to 13.3 per cent of young men aged 17 to 22.
The findings have been drawn together with support from the Office for National Statistics, the National Centre for Social Research, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Exeter.
Both the 2017 and 2020 surveys used the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to assess different aspects of mental health, including problems with emotions, behaviour, relationships, hyperactivity, and concentration.
Responses from parents and young people were used to estimate the likelihood that a child might have a mental disorder, this being classified as ‘unlikely’, ‘possible’ or ‘probable’. Due to survey methods, direct comparisons between 2017 and 2020 are only possible across the five to 16 age group.
In the 2020 report, a key finding is that children who were ‘unlikely’ to have a mental disorder were more likely to receive regular support from their school or college during the pandemic (76.4 per cent) compared to those with a probable mental disorder (62.6 per cent).
The research also identifies a number of other factors that seem to be related to mental health difficulties:
- Among girls aged 11 to 16, 63.8 per cent with a probable mental disorder had seen or heard an argument among adults in their household (compared to 46.8 per cent of girls unlikely to have a mental disorder).
- Children and young people with a probable mental disorder were about eight times more likely to report feeling lonely ‘often or always’ (29.4 per cent compared to 3.7 per cent).
- Half of children (50.2 per cent) with a probable mental health disorder had parents who were worried about catching Covid-19 (compared to 33.2 per cent).
- Those with a probable mental disorder were more likely to report experiencing sleep problems during the pandemic than those without (58.9 vs 19 per cent). This was more common in girls.
- Children with a probable mental disorder were more likely to live in a household that had fallen behind with payments during lockdown (16.3 vs 6.4 per cent).
- Overall, 37 per cent of 11 to 16-year-olds and 36.4 per cent of 17 to 22-year-olds reported that lockdown had made their life a little worse.
The findings come alongside a new report from children's mental health charity YoungMinds showing that 61 per cent of secondary school students believe their mental health to have worsened since returning to school in September.
This survey involved 2,011 students aged 11 to 18 and it also found that only 15 per cent thought their school was offering enough mental health support.
Furthermore, 40 per cent of respondents said that there was no school counsellor available to support students in their school, while only 27 per cent said that they have had a one-to-one conversation with a teacher or another member of staff in which they were asked about their wellbeing.
YoungMinds wants to see the government set up a so-called Resilience Fund to help fund mental health and counselling support for young people in schools.
Chief executive Emma Thomas said: ‘The pandemic has put a huge strain on many young people who were already struggling with their mental health, because of traumatic experiences, social isolation, a loss of routine and a breakdown in formal and informal support.
‘While it's extremely welcome that secondary schools have re-opened, our research shows that young people with mental health problems have often not had a ‘soft landing’ in their first few weeks back. While there has rightly been a focus on academic catch-up, young people can only learn effectively if they are in a good place emotionally.
‘That's why the government must provide ring-fenced funding for schools to help them prioritise wellbeing and mental health this year.’
Commenting on the wider NHS statistics, Anne Longfield, the children's commissioner for England, said she was ‘extremely alarmed’.
‘It should shock the government into immediate action to tackle a growing epidemic. While there have been some welcome improvements in children's mental health services over recent years, clearly the scale of the problem is getting worse, and what has been promised is just not enough.’
She added: ‘The NHS will have to upscale radically its plans for children's mental health just to meet its existing commitments. Every school needs an NHS-funded counsellor as a minimum, and we need a children's mental health service that is properly funded, with no postcode lottery, so that children receive the support and treatment they need as quickly as possible.’
Girls with autism are ‘dodging diagnosis’ by camouflaging their behaviours
Females with autism are passing ‘under the radar’ because they are so effective at camouflaging their behaviours, academics have warned.
Around one in every 100 people are on the autism spectrum and there are around 700,000 adults and children with autism in the UK, according to figures from the National Autistic Society.
However, for every four males who are diagnosed at an earlier age, there is just one female diagnosis and a new study suggests that this is because young girls are adept at hiding their autism traits in order to ‘fit in’. It has been termed ‘camouflaging’ and it means many young girls with autism dodge an official diagnosis and therefore do not get access to support they may need.
The study has been published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders by researchers from the Centre for Innovation in Mental Health at the University of Southampton, Liverpool Hope University, and University College London (Wood-Downie et al, 2020).
Some of the typical behaviours among children with autism include not responding to their name, avoiding eye contact, repeating certain phrases, struggling to understand what others are thinking and feeling, adopting strict routines, and making repetitive movements, such as flapping hands, flicking fingers or rocking the body.
The study, however, shows that when it comes to ‘social reciprocal behaviours’, such as taking turns, following someone else's initiative and being flexible, autistic females have more advanced ‘social presentation’ than males.
The study involved a group of 84 participants, aged between eight and 14, and including male and female children and adolescents with and without autism.
The researchers say that, on the whole, autistic girls may be quieter, hide their feelings, and may appear to cope better in social situations, meaning they may not display the stereotypical behaviours associated with autism.
Co-author of the research, Dr Henry Wood-Downie, a research fellow at the University of Southampton's Education School, says that a better awareness of camouflaging could lead to increased support for those who might otherwise slip the net: ‘We need to raise awareness of camouflaging in general, in terms of educating school staff, GPs and other practitioners, because there seems to be a lot of females with autism flying under the radar as things currently stand.
‘And we want to raise this awareness so that girls who need it can access support at the earliest stage possible – because early intervention is usually key in promoting positive outcomes.’
Dr Julie Hadwin, of Liverpool Hope University's School of Education Studies, who contributed to the research, added: ‘Camouflaging itself is something that can lead to difficulties. It's a stressful, effortful thing to do. Girls describe camouflaging as constantly having to be something they're not. And, of course, that's a really difficult thing to maintain.
‘Females can have an identity crisis, as they're trying not to be themselves while at the same time engaging in camouflaging strategies that take a lot of effort. This leaves little in the way of spare capacity to engage in other things, like doing school work.’
Dr Wood-Downie added: ‘There is research to suggest autistic females only get picked up once they hit crisis point – i.e. they only receive an autism diagnosis once they've been referred to other mental health services for things like depression, anxiety and eating disorders.’
Further information and resources
- NHS Digital: Mental health of children and young people in England, 2020: Wave 1 follow up to the 2017 survey, October 2020: https://bit.ly/3myohMp
- YoungMinds: Coronavirus: Impact on young people with mental health needs, October 2020: https://bit.ly/37NgJRR
Free period products: Six in 10 schools are yet to sign up to government scheme
Campaigners voice fears that schools could lose access to period products funding if they do not sign up by December
Only 40 per cent of eligible schools have signed up to the government's free period products initiative, sparking fears about the on-going impact of period poverty.
Last year, the Department for Education (DfE) agreed to fund the provision of free sanitary products for primary and secondary schools and further education colleges.
The opt-in scheme rolled out in January this year, with the DfE publishing implementation guidance for schools (DfE, 2020). However, take-up has stalled with six in 10 schools failing to claim the free period products. There are fears that schools which have not signed up by December will lose access to the funding.
The issue was first brought to national attention three years ago by student Amika George and her #freeperiods campaign, which highlighted the fact that more than 137,000 children in the UK have missed school because of period poverty.
Period poverty is the term used to describe the inability to afford or access sanitary products. Menstrual products cost women £13 a month and 40 per cent of UK girls say they have used toilet roll because they cannot afford period products. Furthermore, one in seven girls struggle to afford sanitary wear and one in 10 are unable to pay for these essential products, according to 2017 research from charity Plan International UK (SecEd, 2019).
Campaigners are concerned that the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the problem, with three in 10 girls struggling to access period products during the lockdown (Plan, 2020).
As such, Ms George's Free Periods campaign and the Red Box Project – a not-for-profit organisation which places boxes of period products in schools – have launched a ‘Period Revolution’ campaign, calling on young people and parents to take action and get schools to sign up.
The campaign is providing a toolkit of resources that ‘Period Revolutionaries’ can deploy, including email templates, posters and flyers. This is available via the Free Periods website.
Gemma Abbott, director of Free Periods and coordinator for the Red Box Project, said: ‘We know that the scheme's roll-out has been greatly affected by the Covid-19 crisis. Schools have faced extraordinary upheaval, so it's not surprising that many are still to sign up.
‘But now their doors have re-opened, we want them to know the funding is available and that it can make a significant difference to their students’ health and wellbeing – even those who they think might not need it. We're already in the deepest recession since records began and life is going to become even more precarious for many households in the months ahead, which will result in increasing numbers of young people being unable to access the period supplies they need.
Ms George added: ‘We need every school to sign up urgently. Everyone deserves to be in lessons without the choking fear of worrying if they've leaked onto their uniform. So, please ask your school to sign up for products. If not for you, for someone else in school, because you may never know who's struggling month-on-month to afford a packet of tampons. It's easy and free – just one call is all that's needed.’
‘We urge teachers to be equally proactive and get conversations started about what products students need, no matter how awkward or embarrassing. The taboo around periods is still so embedded, so students may not be vocal about not being able to access pads or tampons, but the pandemic has led to drastic changes in household incomes for many families, so the government scheme is now more critical than ever before.’
The DfE's guidance states: ‘All learners in schools and 16 to 19 organisations should be able to access period products if they need them. This may include, for example, where learners have forgotten their products, cannot afford products, have come on their period unexpectedly.’
Rebecca Conn-Pearson, associate assistant principal for student engagement at Birches Head Academy in Stoke-on-Trent, said that signing up took just five minutes.
She added: ‘During lockdown, we continued to provide products via a ‘grab and go’ system, and its significant uptake demonstrated how needed and appreciated the products are. Signing up to the government's scheme is quick and simple. Placing my first order took no more than 5 minutes.’
The free products are being distributed by Phs Group (see further information), whose head of public sector Chris Brown wrote in CHHE's sister magazine SecEd earlier this year advising how schools can implement the scheme (SecEd, 2019).
Popular approaches to distributing the free products in secondary schools include coin-free vending machines, while in primary schools products can be made available on request or can be distributed to older pupils.
Further information and resources
- DfE: Period products in schools and colleges. 2020: www.gov.uk/government/publications/period-products-in-schools-and-colleges
- Free Periods: www.freeperiods.org
- Phs Group: For more information on the free period products for schools, call 01827 255 500, email periodproducts@phs.co.uk or visit www.phs.co.uk/periodequalitydfe/
- Plan International: The state of girls' rights in the UK, May 2020: https://bit.ly/31nMZa0
- Red Box Project: http://redboxproject.org/
- SecEd: Tackling period poverty: Secondary school roll-out, November 2019: https://bit.ly/35dQq4h
Warning issued over lockdown spike in incidents of online grooming and abuse
Safeguarding leads in schools are on alert for disclosures of online sexual abuse after a surge in reported incidents following the Covid-19 lockdown
Children feeling lonely during the Covid-19 lockdown were at heightened risk of online grooming and sexual abuse.
A briefing from the NSPCC published in October (NSPCC, 2020) reports that Childline has seen an 11 per cent increase in counselling sessions about online sexual abuse – from an average of 207 a month before lockdown to 230 a month now.
The NSPCC helpline also saw a 60 per cent increase in contacts from people with concerns about children experiencing online sexual abuse, from an average of 117 per month before lockdown to an average of 187 per month since lockdown. The charity warns that lonely children sought company and support online during lockdown, often from people they did not know. For many children, it was the first time they had ventured onto some of these online platforms.
The briefing states: ‘Some children and young people told Childline that the conditions created by the pandemic made them feel lonely and disconnected from their usual support networks. This led to some of them using online platforms to meet new people, get company and seek support from people they hadn't met face-to-face.’
The concerning rise in cases has significant implications for safeguarding work in schools, with teachers and pastoral staff on the look-out for potential disclosures this term.
Cases reported to Childline include children being offered money or e-gift cards in exchange for online sexual activity and children being talked into sending explicit images, often by perpetrators posing as young people themselves.
The briefing adds: ‘Some children and young people told our Childline counsellors that their experience of being sexually abused online had left them feeling scared, embarrassed, ashamed and questioning their self-worth. Others turned to Childline because they were struggling with issues around eating and sleeping following the abuse.
‘Some young people spoke about having difficulties trusting other people and forming healthy relationships after what had happened to them. And some were having suicidal thoughts as a result of the abuse.’
Perpetrators used multiple channels to maintain communication with their victims, according to the briefing, and would try to quickly move conversations from public to private spaces online.
The platforms used included social media networks such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, instant messaging such as Discord, Kik and WhatsApp, live streaming platforms such as Twitch and Yubo, and chat functions in online games such as Fortnite Battle Royale. The NSPCC briefing adds: ‘It can be difficult for children and young people to speak out about online sexual abuse. Some children and young people told Childline they were finding it difficult to ask for help. Some felt ashamed or to blame for what happened to them. Others felt that there was no point in asking for help, as no action would be taken.’
The NSPCC's warnings come as new research has raised concerns about a lack of counselling services being offered to children returning to school this term. The study from the IPPR think-tank (Quilter-Pinner and Vainker, 2020) finds that only 48 per cent of almost 7,000 teachers polled said their schools were offering on-site counselling, with private and more affluent state schools more likely to have services.
The report calls for the government to ensure on-site mental health support and social work in every school. The report's lead author, Harry Quilter Pinner, said: ‘Many schools are unable to provide the support young people need to thrive. Without urgent government action to ensure every school can provide vital services such as counselling and after-school clubs there is a profound risk that the legacy of the pandemic will be even bigger educational and health inequalities. The government has started to put in place some support for young people in the wake of the national lockdown. But it can and should go further.’
Further information and resources
- NSPCC: The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on child welfare: online abuse, October 2020: https://bit.ly/3drge0u
- Quilter-Pinner & Vainker: The New Normal: The future of education after Covid-19, IPPR, October 2020: https://bit.ly/3lC8vjh