to think that it's appalling that society has come to this

[floraloctopus]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-48119099

The school is described as the 4th emergency service (yes, I know that's the coastguard/lifeboats) as they are providing a food bank service, helping get rid of head lice, running training courses on cooking on a budget, meanwhile they are having to make staff redundant because of budgets.

It shouldn't be like this, children and families are suffering whilst the rich get richer thanks to the government policies which take from the poor and give to the rich.

Someone will soon be round to tell you it is all the fault of the poor, they shouldn't have children at all, the children should be removed, whatever happened to 'old-fashioned' parenting and we used to live on 10p/week and we were healthy and strong, they're all buying fags/booze/Sky/tattoos, UC is the best and people are usually better off on it, back in my day . . .

YANBU.

Good old Tories

I always wonder how many of the people who find this appalling (because of course it is) vote Tory.

I live in a pretty deprived town which has returned a conservative MP since 1971. I'm a school governor and I see so many families desperately struggling. I was chatting to some women at school drop off the other day about how little money the school has and how it meant parents were expected to contribute more and they couldn't afford it. My friend said lightheartedly that 'this is what you get if you vote Tory' and they all staunchly defended voting Tory. They are literally the losers of conservative ideology yet they don't see it.

This is what austerity does. When you have areas of extreme poverty and struggling education/early intervention services you end up with increased issues like teen pregnancy and a cohort of parents who struggle to properly care for their children. A horrible negative cycle. It won't be cured by hang wringing and saying "these parents are shit". We need research based targeted investment. It's unacceptable to leave the jobs to already overworked teachers who aren't trained in that role.

The top 1% of earners pay 28% of all income tax and pay more of it than the bottom 50%. Trotting out tired tropes about how evil the tories does nothing to solve issues that are out there.

The top 1% of earners pay 28% of all income tax

Of course we do because we have more to pay! My family is high earning and I'd happily pay more tax than I do - under the tories we've actually paid less and it's ridiculous. Anyone happy to allow this situation to continue is either deliberately failing to see what life is like for people living in poverty or is plain selfish.

YANBU. You can thank the Tories.

@opticaldelusion

Out of interest, how did they defend it?

I perpetually amazed that so many people are actively voting for shit schools and shit healthcare.

Just why?

Well said, HomeMadeMadness

Well the Tories aren't actually doing a thing to resolve the current climate are they? So yes it is all down to the Tories

Yeah, it's like youth centres and Sure Start and police services have been cut and everyone is wondering why stabbings and county lines dealers have increased. 🤔

So neglectful parents are somehow making the rich get richer? The rich are getting richer because they are earning money. You mean the government is taking less from rich people?

Someone will soon be round to tell you it is all the fault of the poor, they shouldn't have children at all, the children should be removed, whatever happened to 'old-fashioned' parenting and we used to live on 10p/week and we were healthy and strong,

Sounds like JacobRees-morgebenezer scrooge? Haven't we moved on since the Victorians?

The top 1% of earners pay 28% of all income tax and yet over 30% of children live in poverty so presumably you agree that the system is flawed then?

Umm, well I know ofd someone who is shall we say in need but she still manages to run a car, latest iphone and other tech, goes on hollday abroad at least once a year and yet still calls on the food bank!.

Read that articale an its not that surprising. Yarmouth has few if any other industries apart from b&B's and they are very seasonal and a bit of fishing its quite a way from most anywhere and I'd reckon theres a good reason they used a hashtag#coast or very similar.

I think school are in a great position to do all of those things, however their budgets should reflect this.

The constant cuts have led to loads of issues, yet nothing's been done about it despite the fact we're no longer in austerity.

In the same vein- www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/02/police-officer-london-lost-control-streets-knife-crime-cuts

The school is doing a great job and should be a community hub.

There is no perfect system, there will always be winners and loosers. People are getting used to being in control of there own survival.

It's incredibly sad, but also appalling, that children should essentially be starving given that we really are a pretty wealthy country. It beats me how the hell Theresa May can have the gall to claim that austerity is over when this sort of thing is happening.

@SchrodingersBox that's an idiotic argument considering that the lower 50% of earners only own 7% of the total wealth in the country - and unlike you, I'll offer a en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_in_the_United_Kingdom#Wealth (HMRC in this case). That's from 2004, I'm fairly certain it's more unequal by now. Where's your source, anyway?

Agree with homemade madness. However privilege is generally invisible to those that have it. It is appalling that this is the norm for many schools now.

Is it 7 people in the world who own 50% of the earths wealth?

Umm, well I know ofd someone who is shall we say in need but she still manages to run a car, latest iphone and other tech, goes on hollday abroad at least once a year and yet still calls on the food bank!

Sure you do.

What a wonderful school! With a fabulous headteacher and fabulous staff that are prepared to support this. They deserve a huge amount of credit. And better funding obviously, as all schools do.

I don't like much of what the tories have done and I wouldn't vote for them, but I can't see how they're to blame for children having head lice or parents not knowing how to cook.

The plight of the poor in this country literally reduces me to tears. I only have a state pension to live on but am still so much better off than these poor souls struggling to raise children and keep a roof over their heads. Yes, there have always been disadvantaged people but I have never known things as bad as they are now.

have you noticed how UC and all the poverty caused from this was introduced in the most deprived areas, barbaric bastard tories knew exactly what they were doing.
Absolutely amazing HT, she deserves a medal.