The burden on school and college leaders and teachers has reached an unprecedented level, a leading teaching union has warned, as schools are increasingly forced to run food banks and support families with housing due to under-funded public services “crumbling around them”.
A report by the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) said these vital services are important, but cannot continue to be the sole responsibility of schools and teachers.
Julie McCulloch, director of strategy and policy at ASCL, said: “In recent years the expectations on schools and colleges have grown way beyond teaching and learning to encompass a wide range of societal responsibilities.
“Some of this can be traced back to the pandemic, but also to high child poverty rates and crumbling public services, meaning that schools and colleges are left to pick up the pieces.”
The ASCL has set out what services schools should reasonably be expected to provide, and which should be the responsibility of other agencies that schools may liaise with.
The report added that things like dental checks, health of pupils’ families, and pupil behaviour on social media out of school hours should not be expected of schools.
“From running food banks and supporting families with housing, to resolving parking issues and mediating parental disputes, the burden placed on school and college teachers and leaders has never been higher,” Ms McCulloch added.
“Some of these issues are obviously of great importance but they cannot continue to be shouldered by educators.”
The report also sets out some responsibilities that the ASCL said schools might reasonably be expected to take on, if they are given the proper funding and resources to do so.
These include providing technology for pupils, pupils’ personal hygiene, ensuring support detailed in Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) is met, and reducing youth violence.
A study by the University of Bristol last year found schools had become the biggest source of charitable food and household aid, with around one in five schools running one.
The Government should set out a long-term plan for education like the one it has for the NHS, the ASCL said, and a strategy that clearly maps out who is responsible for different services in local areas.
Schools need sufficient funding to provide their core responsibilities, the union added, and the Government must also invest properly in wider children’s services and make sure its child poverty strategy tackles the issues the poorest families are facing.
The Government is expected to set out its child poverty strategy in the autumn.
“More needs to be done to clearly distinguish where the core responsibilities of education staff start and end,” Ms McCulloch said.
“It is time to rethink exactly what we expect from schools and colleges and how they should be resourced to meet these demands.”
