Four siblings sharing one uniform - back to school costs hit families in hardship.

Some children in poverty are missing school because they are sharing one uniform, a pair of shoes or a bus pass with their siblings, a KidsCan survey has revealed. Hundreds of low decile schools have shared heartbreaking stories of the strain families are under as children head back to school.

“We had [four] boys attending on different days of the week and the excuse was illness... turned out they only had one school shirt so they picked their favourite day of classes to come. Mum was too embarrassed to tell anyone,” a teacher wrote. 

Another wrote: “Uniform shared between 4 siblings. One child attended a day. Tight on the oldest and loose on the youngest. Stationery non existent.”

210 decile 1-4 schools responded to the KidsCan survey on back to school costs. Teachers said students were often absent on the all-important first day or week of school because they didn’t have the supplies they needed, meaning they missed out on learning from the very beginning.

“Many parents do keep their children home until they can afford some books, uniforms also hold parents back,” one teacher wrote. “Some have to choose between feeding their children or stationery, and stationery will always lose,” another reported.

Schools detailed an increasing number of measures they are taking to support struggling families, including changing to cheaper uniforms with no logo, not charging fees, reducing stationery costs, and setting up payment plans. Some went above and beyond, picking up children whose families couldn’t afford petrol, with teachers paying for stationery themselves.

KidsCan aims to ease the burden on children, families and schools by taking care of essentials including breakfast, snacks, hot meals, raincoats, shoes and sanitary items. This term the charity is bringing 47 schools off its waiting list, bringing the total number of schools it supports to a record 787 nationwide. 

“We’re pleased that more children will be able to focus on learning, without sitting in class feeling cold and hungry, or not coming to school at all,” KidsCan’s CEO and founder Julie Chapman says. “But this is not a milestone to be celebrated. It just highlights the level of hardship in New Zealand right now, and the enormous impact it’s having on our kids.”

Teachers wrote of children feeling embarrassed and anxious without the essentials: “We’ve had children with sore stomachs, anxiety, crying etc because they do not have the right uniform, stationery, shoes or money to go on camps.”

Nearly every school surveyed had seen a boost in attendance thanks to KidsCan support.

Last year KidsCan provided

• Baked beans, bread, spreads, fruit, yoghurt, supergrain bars and scroggin, fuelling on average 30,000 children a day
• More than 424,500 servings of hot meals - including soups, curries and pasta
• 128,000 loaves of bread
• More than 40,000 raincoats and 25,000 pairs of shoes to get children to school warm and dry
• More than 45,000 bottles of head lice treatment and 45,000 lice combs
• More than 28,200 boxes of sanitary products. A 2018 KidsCan survey revealed 29% of 15-17 year old respondents said they had missed school due to a lack of access to sanitary items.

Early childhood programme

Since October 2018, KidsCan has been supporting 25 early childhood centres with a fresh lunch, snacks, raincoats, shoes and health essentials like head lice treatment. The programme is the first of its kind in New Zealand. Thousands more under 5s are waiting for support. 

“Research shows that preschool is the most crucial time of our lives,” Chapman said. ”Our early childhood programme is making a big difference to the wellbeing of our youngest kids. But we need more public support to reach vulnerable children in more than 100 centres waiting nationwide.”