Children with shoes held together with duct tape, shivering in only t-shirts in winter, and with less and less food in their lunch boxes.

Teachers say these are increasingly common scenes at school as more families struggle to survive – and students’ learning is suffering.  

KidsCan, which supports schools and early childhood centres with food and clothing, has been inundated with requests for support – particularly from schools in middle-income areas.

More than 10,000 children in 260 schools and early childhood centres are now on its waiting list – the largest in the charity’s 19-year-history. 

“The poverty line is shifting. It’s heartbreaking to see children who didn’t need help before now arriving at school lacking the very basics, and we are unable to get food and clothing to them because we don’t have enough funding. That’s why we’re launching an urgent appeal,” KidsCan CEO Julie Chapman says.  

“The repercussions are huge. When kids are cold and hungry, they can’t learn, and they get left behind. We can’t forget about them.”  

Schools are concerned about students’ living conditions as winter bites.

A social worker describes visiting homes to find up to 30 people living together, or multiple tents on the lawn. Families couldn't afford hot water or warm clothes. There were queues out the door at food banks.

“That’s what our students are living amongst. I’m worried about their mental health. It’s almost like a third world country,” she tells KidsCan.

Teachers are op-shopping for clothes and delivering food parcels and even firewood to struggling families. 

The majority of the 98 schools on KidsCan’s waiting list are in middle-income areas, where principals say they are not resourced to cope with increasing hardship. 56 of those schools don’t qualify for the government’s Ka Ora, Ka Ako lunch scheme.  

They include a primary school on Waiheke Island, where behind the grand holiday homes, locals are struggling; a rural Waikato school where a third of the 150 children are transient; and an Auckland school whose roll has changed with housing intensification.

“The families coming in are really battling,” its principal says. Schools say poverty in middle-income areas can be harder to see as both children and their families try to hide it – but it shows up in non-attendance.  

“I had conversation yesterday with a mum who was in tears, saying, ‘I just can't pay for more uniform for my child. The money is not stretching far enough anymore,’” a principal reports.

“It was really heartbreaking, and it was a family who wouldn’t have been on my radar.” 

In response, KidsCan is launching an urgent appeal to reach children waiting for help, backed by its principal partner Meridian Energy.

KidsCan CEO Julie Chapman. Photo / Alex Burton.

The charity already supports 889 schools – a third of all schools nationwide - and more than 200 early childhood centres.

It has secured enough funding from corporate and public donations to support 40 more schools and seven early childhood centres from next term – but a record waitlist remains. Like many charities, donations have been hit hard as regular givers themselves grapple with the cost of living. 

A recent survey of KidsCan’s partner schools reveals just how much impact the basics can have for a child in poverty.

Teachers says the charity’s breakfast food, snacks and hot lunches (in schools that don’t qualify for Ka Ora, Ka Ako), allowed children to focus on learning. Warm jackets and good shoes had led to few absences over winter and meant children could take part in school activities. 

“We can’t leave children waiting for support at such a critical time in their development,” says Julie. “With the right support, kids can flourish at school – and every child deserves that chance. Please donate if you can.”  

To donate visit: www.kidscan.org.nz - thank you for including this link in your coverage