South Tyneside Appoints School Poverty Officers to Support Families

South Tyneside council has appointed two school poverty policy officers to help families manage school-related costs, including uniform policies and access to activities like cycling, as part of a wider child poverty strategy.

New Officers to Support Families Facing Financial Challenges

A council in South Tyneside has appointed two school poverty policy officers to assist families experiencing financial difficulties.

Laura Turner and Lisa Murphy are working directly with affected families as part of the local authority's comprehensive child poverty strategy.

Projects under their remit include collaborating with schools to develop new uniform policies and improving access to activities such as cycling.

The roles, funded by the government for an initial 12-month period, aim to "help families manage the costs of the school day."

The Labour-led council stated that South Tyneside is the first area in the north-east of England to introduce dedicated officers specifically focused on school-related poverty.

South Tyneside Council Standing in front of South Shields town hall are Laura Turner, who has blonde hair and wears a black and white checked jacket, Paul Dean, who has a short grey goatee beard and short grey hair, dressed in a blue jumper, and Lisa Murphy, who has brown hair and wears a smart light blue blouse. A statue of Queen Victoria is in the background. — Laura Turner (left) and Lisa Murphy (right), South Tyneside's new school poverty policy officers, pictured with councillor Paul Dean, lead member for voluntary sector, partnerships and equalities

Addressing School Attendance and Uniform Costs

Laura Liddell, the council's anti-poverty strategy advisor who previously worked in schools, observed that attendance often dropped noticeably on non-uniform days.

"If the poorest family in our school can't afford this, then morally, should we be doing it?"

She expressed a desire for all schools to consider the affordability of activities and policies for their poorest families.

One example of this approach is Toner Avenue Primary School in Hebburn, which recently modified its World Book Day plans to be more inclusive.

The school provided a white T-shirt for all children and invited an artist to help them design characters that were then drawn on the shirts.

"It was a really inclusive experience that had no additional costs for families,"

said Liddell.

Piles of new and donated uniforms arranged in order of age — Uniforms are repeatedly cited as a cost pressure for parents

Uniform Policy and Active Travel Initiatives

Lisa Murphy is collaborating with 12 schools to develop a new uniform policy expected to be implemented in September.

"It involves basically using one uniform, essentially a PE kit, rather than having two uniforms for the school day,"

she explained.

Murphy noted that this change aims to reduce costs and improve comfort for pupils.

"Our role is to basically reduce the cost of the school day,"

she added.

Laura Turner identified that some children were unable to participate in active travel initiatives due to lack of access to bikes or helmets.

"They had some young people that didn't have access to bikes or helmets,"

Turner said.

"We quickly became aware that it was quite a wider problem for parents in the borough."

She is currently working to secure bike donations for schools to enable children to take part in these activities.

Additional Support and Outreach

As part of their responsibilities, Turner and Murphy will also conduct surveys of parents and s and work to raise awareness of financial support available to families.

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