'We don't just teach - we clothe the kids, feed them and brush their teeth' - Voice of Asia

At St Nicholas Church of England Primary School in Boston, Lincolnshire, UK, when the bell rang, Headteacher Mrs. Booth noticed a small boy walking into the school gates with his hood up, crying. She gently asked, "Are you okay?" and took him aside. The boy told her that he had been hit on the head by an adult at home.

Domestic violence is not the only issue teachers here are facing. The school currently has four families who are homeless, many families are in debt, and some students have experienced human trafficking. Across the country, schools like St Nicholas are increasingly needing to help families with issues outside the classroom.

The BBC News commissioned the polling tool Teacher Tapp to ask teachers and school leaders in England about the extra support their schools were providing to children. Teachers told the BBC that the biggest issues their schools had helped families with over the past two years were financial hardship, housing, and mental health problems. Nearly half (45%) of senior teachers said their school had provided financial support to families in the last 12 months; two-thirds (66%) of senior teachers said their school had provided out-of-hours food for students in the last 12 months; and around one in seven (15%) teachers said they had spent their own money to provide food for struggling families; a third (34%) of teachers said their school was helping children to brush their teeth.

Headteacher Mrs. Booth said that her primary school has become a "refuge, a safe place and a haven" for many of its students. The school is located in one of the most deprived areas of Lincolnshire, with a high migrant population – 71 children moved in and out of the school in the last academic year – and nearly 70% of children do not have English as their first language. Mrs. Booth had already taken a call that morning about three missing vulnerable children – they had not been to school for weeks and all had tuberculosis, a contagious lung disease that can be serious if left untreated. "We think the family is in Europe," Mrs. Booth said, "we are pretty sure they were escaping debt."

After morning break, Mrs. Curtis was preparing an emergency bag for an eight-year-old student whose mother had called the school earlier to tell them they had had to leave home in a hurry. She said she and her child were safe, but they had nothing. Near the stationery cupboard, there are a dozen pre-prepared bags filled with items a child might need during a family crisis. Inside, there is a teddy bear with the school logo, a bedtime story, and a school uniform. But the school also helps with all sorts of other problems – from electricity meter cards to blankets. Mrs. Curtis is now looking for some pajamas for the student in need. At lunchtime, Mrs. Smalley, a member of the canteen staff, keeps an eye out for children who are not getting enough to eat at home. St Nicholas currently has 85 children eligible for free school meals, which is nearly half the school.

The school is also involved in a healthy eating project – but the contents of children’s lunchboxes remains an ongoing challenge. Children often come to school with leftover takeaways, or just chocolate and crisps. Assembly is one of the highlights of the school day, with loud and upbeat music. Mrs. Booth describes it as a lesson for the "body, mind and soul" with the hall packed with children dancing and singing. When she joined St Nicholas as headteacher in 2019, the school was rated inadequate by Ofsted, the school inspection body. Morale was low, and the school was failing the children and staff. Five years later, St Nicholas is rated good and is part of the Infinity Academies Trust. Their motto is “Let your light shine” and the school’s logo is a lighthouse.

"It's so important for us to provide a sanctuary," Mrs. Booth said, "you know you're going to get love, you're going to get food and water, you're going to get a hug at the door." Mrs. Smith, who has taught here for 21 years, described the huge changes she has seen since she started teaching. "When I first started at the school, children were sent to school, we taught them, and then they went home," she said, "Now we help them with their meals, we help them brush their teeth, we help them with their behavior, we help them with general life problems. How can we not help a child who is hungry or doesn't have clothes?"

Despite the challenges faced by St Nicholas, academic standards have improved dramatically thanks to its focus on wellbeing. In the latest figures, 95% of children in year one reached the national phonics standard, well above the national average and up from 61% before the pandemic. St Nicholas not only provides extra support for students but also helps parents, with parenting and budgeting courses, for example. The school recently held cooking courses for families and gave a free air fryer to those who completed the course, so they could test out their new skills at home. For children who have a loved one in prison, the school arranges weekly time for them to speak to them via video link and show them their school work.

Kelly, a parent of a child in year four, turned to the school when things became too much to cope with. "I've always struggled with my mental health, but it got worse," Kelly said. "I couldn't cope. I spoke to the school and they've been amazing. They helped my daughter, they put me on a parenting course. It's not just a school, it's a family – if they know you're struggling, they'll look out for you."

Responding to the BBC’s survey, Paul Whiteman of the NAHT school leaders’ union, told us that it was “critical” that schools’ time and budgets were freed up to focus on learning. “There needs to be a greater safety net for children and families so they can get the support they need from central and local government and community services and the government’s child poverty taskforce must come up with concrete recommendations to help address the root causes of poverty.”

The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which is currently going through Parliament, has a range of measures aimed at tackling poverty in schools, such as the establishment of breakfast clubs and limiting the cost of school uniforms, although the Bill’s plans for academies have caused political controversy. The Bill will also ensure teachers and schools are always involved in decisions about safeguarding children in their area, and local authorities have the power to intervene if a child’s home environment is assessed as unsuitable or unsafe. A unique identification number will be created for children across services, similar to a national insurance number for adults.

In response to our findings about extra support being provided by schools, a government spokesperson said that school funding had increased by £2.3bn. They also pointed to the introduction of free breakfast clubs and limits on the amount parents have to spend on expensive branded school uniforms. “More widely, we are developing a strategy to reduce child poverty which will be published this spring,” they added. As the school bell rings to mark the end of the day for students, Mrs. Booth and her dedicated team are still hard at work. They need to make regular calls to social care services, the police and the Home Office to deal with issues, as well as meeting with mental health support teams.

"My job is to see the opportunities to allow these children to thrive in modern Britain," Mrs. Booth said. "If I said 'that's not my job' I couldn't call myself a headteacher."