Earlier this year, The Education and Skills Committee carried out an inquiry into the impact of poverty on attainment and achievement of school-aged children and young people. Poverty is an increasing problem for families, with more that 1 in every 4 children in Scotland recognised as living in poverty. The Committee was interested in finding out about the ways poverty impacts on children’s education, and how our schools and other services reduce this impact.
Growing up in poverty does not automatically mean that a child will underachieve. However, the evidence the Committee took was clear that living in poverty has an effect on the family unit which can in turn impact on a child’s learning.
The report can be viewed by clicking here
Working in partnership with Child Poverty Action Group, we recently put together a useful toolkit for Parent Councils across Scotland highlighting where costs are affecting low income families in their school and providing simple actions that could taken to help poverty-proof schools.