Shocking scale of pupils' hunger is revealed

Children arriving at school with mouldy bread, or even nothing, as 100,000 are frozen out of free school meals

- Sally Weale, Richard Adams and Patrick Butler

Children not eligible for free school meals are coming to school with mouldy bread, empty wraps and in some cases nothing at all, according to teachers who told the Guardian they had never seen such desperation in the communities they serve.

Accounts of widespread hunger in classrooms come as analysis by the Liberal Democrats found more than 100,000 children in England may be missing out on free school meals.

"The government is snatching school lunches away from children by stealth," said Munira Wilson, the Lib Dem education spokesperson. She argued that, had the £7,400 ($8,700) limit on household earnings been increased in line with inflation, it would now be set at £8,575, making up to 110,000 more children eligible.

School leaders say they are shocked by the pitiful packed lunches they are seeing in classrooms as desperate parents struggle to feed their children. One pupil brought in a cupful of leftover plain rice, and another brought just a small tub of dry breakfast cereal.

Others come to school with a single chocolate bar, after parents give them money to buy something for lunch, while many from low-income families arrive in class tired and listless because their stomachs are empty.

"I've been in education now since 2006 and I've never known anything like it," said Sarah Livesey, the headteacher at Oasis Academy Leesbrook in Oldham, Greater Manchester. "We are in the worst situation we have ever been. Even with Covid, I think this is our most challenging time."