“Children got on board because there was a purpose”: Poverty Proofing© Parkhead Primary School
In October of 2023, our Poverty Proofing© the School Day team headed to Parkhead Primary School to start their week long audit. Staff, parents and pupils alike were all given the chance to express their opinions on access to the school day, including, but not restricted to, themes of uniform, food, pupil support and additional opportunities.
The Poverty Proofing audit at Parkhead Primary school was undertaken by a member of the Poverty Proofing Schools team. They spent some days in school speaking to 324 pupils, staff and parents. There was also a survey sent out to staff, parents and governors to give all those key stakeholders a voice. After the week in school they received a report which consisted of; what we heard or noticed and any practical solutions that could further support families. We want to help break down and remove barriers to getting an amazing school experience for all.
Just over seven months later, we returned to talk to Helen Chard, Parkhead Primary School’s head teacher, and Sarah Lambert, Parkhead Primary School’s family support worker, about how they found the whole Poverty Proofing© process. We discussed what they had been put in place already to improve the school day for their pupils. Helen was new to the school when we carried out the audit but one of Parkhead’s great strengths was that they “already did a lot of poverty proofing practice”. This was definitely seen throughout the audit that Parkhead really did already do a lot for the pupils. Helen explained “We have high pupil premium so we try to do that anyway, but we wanted a fresh pair of eyes to see what else there was; there’s always ways to improve and we had heard good reports from the audit in another school and we thought it was really valuable especially in today’s climate with the cost of living etc”.
We also wanted to discuss the impact of Poverty on their school and what they wanted to address during the audit. Sarah told us that “we have seen a lot of it [poverty] over the years. Its became a real problem not only for those who we had on our radar but for those that we didn’t. It’s really effecting them [families] and a lot more families that we are aware of [are now in poverty]; we have got so many more than we used to”. This runs true with recent statistics across the UK too, with 350,000 more children being pulled into relative poverty in 2021-22. This meant that 4.2 million children were in poverty, a 700,000 child rise since 2020-11.
When speaking about the audit as a whole, Helen explained that “it was a really beneficial audit. Sometimes you do audits and they don’t have the impact you wanted but this was very thorough, easy and there was no impact on staff for time spent [away from usual job]; it was all led by *CNE STAFF MEMBER*. She spoke to nearly every single child rather than cherry picking. The actual report is very good as it picks up on positives, what’s working well, and negatives, what we could improve on. We didn’t feel we had to take all of the solutions either, we could pick things from it. The children spoke very positively of it, being able to speak to someone not linked to the school was good for them”. This was great to hear, as a team we try to be thorough and professional but not intimidating or judgemental; we love seeing how schools are already supporting pupils and their families, while also sharing best practice.
Another important part of Poverty Proofing is bringing the community and the school on the journey. The continued dialogue between schools and families when there is a good connection can lead to improved programmes and policies which in turn, creates a better school environment for the children or young people.
When we discussed this with Helen and Sarah, they explained during the audit they ‘struggled to get parent voice [from the parent survey] but [CNE staff] didn’t let that become a barrier’. Instead, they recognised this and in response went out onto the yard and spoke to parents face-to-face to gather the voices and hooked in the community that way.’ Giving the parents this voice is extremely important, involving parents in schooling and learning can result in a positive difference in learning outcomes. These strong relationships in turn can then enhance a parents desire to be involved in their children’s educational development.
We also wanted to know what staff, parents and children thought of the Poverty Proofing© process as a whole. Helen told us that “at first staff were like ‘well we already do it’ and there was an element of ‘do we really need it?’ but when it came, staff were like ‘oh yeah, we don’t do that so well’”. It is important to us at Children North East that we reiterate that this isn’t an inspection, this is simply listening to what already supports families, especially those families on low income, and what could further be introduced or considered.
The process also allows a ‘fresh set of eyes’ on the practices in school, highlighting things staff do by intuition that support, and acting as a critical friend around those things that could be considered. When discussing about what the pupils thought of the audit, Helen told us “pupils really found it a positive experience, they liked that we made adaptations so they can see that school listened; ‘we told this lady this, and from that we have changes’. Children got on board because there was a purpose. I think parents appreciated being listed to as well”. Sarah also explained “all feedback was positive from parents and the children”. This is a really positive outcome to the Poverty Proofing© audits- if a child feels like they have been listened to this can have significant effect on their confidence so speak up in the future but also increase opportunities to communicate.
We then asked how working with Children North East team was. Helen told us “they were really approachable, friendly, great with the kids, great with the adults, weren’t frightened to go and approach parents. They made it very relaxing/ at first people [staff] thought ‘oh it’s an inspection’ but CNE weren’t judgemental and it didn’t feel like an inspection after the audit started at all”. This is really great to hear as this is what we strive for during all audits; a non-judgmental, relaxed environment to help improve services.
To round off the conversation with Helen and Sarah, we wanted to discuss the outcomes of the audit and what actions had been taken already. Sarah explained that it was “surprising to see little tweaks we could make to improve and seeing it from another point of view”. Both Helen and Sarah were enthusiastic about Poverty Proofing.
Helen also explained “I think we beat ourselves up a bit like ‘oh goodness our trips are too expensive’ but when we looked at feedback from parents we saw they were happy with how cheap it was in comparison to other schools they had heard. For example, we have no obligation to pay for some things. It was reassuring to hear what the parents thought. It goes back to us thinking out of that box for example making the prepayment plans even better than they were, giving more notice and more options for parents. You always think of certain things of Poverty Proofing such as uniform, but [CNE staff] exposed us to the wider elements which we weren’t really aware of”.
There were many things that Parkhead Primary were already doing before the audit and it seemed as though they already had some great ideas for Poverty Proofing©. Helen said that the audit highlighted their ‘”community corner which provides spruced up and cleaned unwanted uniform that we can give out to any families that need it”.
In addition to this, Helen said, “community corner has food in if parents are struggling. That was a big one we were already doing. Also we had homework club was a big strength too, so they didn’t have to do it at home and weren’t penalised because they had the chance to do homework in the club”. These are both positive practices as often children in poverty don’t always have the resources always to complete homework at home. Sarah also said “we have breakfast club and any leftover bread we take to the yard. We subsidised trips and had parent payment plans and we subsidised leavers hoodies already. We also found that if parents said their child didn’t want a hoodie we did a bit more digging to find out why and can subsidise the cost if needed”. These are all great examples of positive practice happening before the audit and it is great that Parkhead were already looking at their school’s policies from the families’ perspective.
Upon completion of the audit, there were some adjustments and changes suggested based on the voice of children, staff and parents. Helen explained “in the long term, we are thinking wider Poverty Proofing. We are already good at the common strands but the wider elements we want to work on. Short term, we changed things like Easter celebrations; we put in them quick wins that we hadn’t of thought of previously but the children obviously had. The Poverty Proofing audit really put us in the shoes of the child and parents and how they feel; pupil voice was strong when it came through, after all they are the ones living it”.
Sarah also told us that she had “attended an event, made some connections to make our community corner better”. She also said “we will have a huge amount of uniform coming in July so we can tell parents before they go out and buy new for September. Also, the grant application was hopefully going to be used to open a sort-of food bank, so if parents want to get in touch via email confidentially, they can and they don’t have to come and ask in person”.
When asked what they would say to another organisation thinking about undergoing the Poverty Proofing© process, Helen said she would “encourage them to take part because it’s a worthwhile process, you get a lot out of it. It makes you think wider and really understand the whole of Poverty Proofing”. Sarah added to this, explaining, “I think you get to find out about both those families you know about, but also families on top of that which weren’t so much on the radar, that you maybe don’t always think about. I think it would open their eyes a little bit”.
Both Helen and Sarah agreed that schools are “one of the most important people who can address inequalities; they spend the most time with the children, they can find out about families that other organisations maybe wont’ and that there ‘is already a relationship between school and families, they have that trust in [us], they will come and ask for help whereas with outside agencies, they may be more reluctant. Schools are pivotal and often that middle head”.
Parkhead Primary school, and all schools that we work with, are on their journey to ‘Poverty Proof’ all the elements of the school day. With all the positive practice already established within the school and the positive response from staff, parents and children, we are confident that changes to further support will be warmly received, benefitting the whole community. We can’t wait to hear all about it!
If you would like more information about Poverty Proofing© or how your school can get involved, get in touch with the team.
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