Shivering schoolchildren who can’t afford coats leave teacher crying in classroom

She described seeing pupils arriving with 'cold and with soaking wet feet'.

A teacher in Lincolnshire cried in her classroom after seeing schoolchildren turning up in broken shoes and without winter coats.

The primary school teacher, who wishes to remain anonymous, revealed many of her pupils arrive ‘shivering cold and with soaking wet feet’ due to their lack of proper clothing.

She stated that their parents can’t afford to buy them warm attire for winter – and some of them also don’t have enough to eat at home.

As a result, she often ends up giving the pupils ‘secret snacks’, such as apples, bananas and cereal bars, during the day because they are so hungry.

The teacher said: ‘It is so upsetting that in this day and age people have to go through this hardship. We do all we can as a school but it is only solving the problem at a superficial level.

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‘One child in my classroom has been arriving to school in a jacket which was bought for a family occasion, while another has been showing up in old, worn out school shoes.’

The teacher told GrimsbyLive that her school provides children with plimsolls when they arrive with wet socks or feet.

She continued: ‘It was heartbreaking to hear that one of my children went without tea and breakfast because their mum and dad hadn’t done a food shop.

‘It is not all children who are going without, of course. But, in my opinion and I’m sure most would agree, just one child going hungry is one too many.’

Earlier this year it was revealed that more than 4,000,000 children are still living in poverty across the UK.

Figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) showed no rise in household income from from 2017 to 2018, meaning 30% of British children live below the poverty line.

Think tank Resolution Foundation further revealed that 70% of children living in poverty are in working families, according to their research.

Part of the problem is due to cuts to children’s services and the introduction of Universal Credit, the End Child Poverty coalition said.