Tauranga Girls' College principal Tara Kanji. Photo / George Novak
A Bay of Plenty school is subsidising the cost of uniforms, school trips and sports fees for students.
One school bought about 50 pairs of shoes for students to get them through the winter, and another delivers meals to families in need.
These are just some of the ways schools are helping struggling families hit hard by the soaring cost of living.
The latest Stats NZ figures revealed the annual food price increase reached a 14-year high of 10.1 per cent.
Compared with October last year, grocery food prices were up 9.7 per cent. Fruit and vegetable prices increased 17 per cent in a year.
Meat, poultry, and fish prices increased 10 per cent, and non-alcoholic beverage prices surged 8.7 per cent.
Trade Me figures for October show the median weekly rental price in Tauranga rose $55 in a year to hit $650 — a record, and higher than both Wellington ($620) and Auckland ($610) for that month. In October last year, it was $595.
Tara Kanji, principal of Tauranga Girls’ College, said despite some wage increases and pay equity improvements, the rising cost of living was making it difficult for families, with the “biggest pinch in food prices”.
She said the school ran a free breakfast club for students which provided about 40 lunches daily. Both initiatives were introduced last year, as they identified the need “much earlier than the cost of living increases”.
The board had also increased the school’s equity budget, covering some uniform costs, subsidising trips, sports fees and arts offerings, she said. These increases were also put in place last year.
The school had employed a third guidance counsellor and a youth mentor to “better meet the wider wellbeing of students”, she said.
“This, too, is aligned to the wellbeing of the community.”
“We take a holistic approach to wellbeing. The stresses in the community are felt in the school, and we, too, are endeavouring to support our wāhine with increased access to resourcing, whether it be food, counselling or through our contact with outside agencies.”
Kanji said the school also helped support the foodbank, contributing “extensively” in Term 3.
Tauranga Intermediate principal Cameron Mitchell said lots of families were “under more strain because the cost of living is going up”. And this included some families who were previously financially stable now “really struggling”.
Mitchell said the school’s KickStart Breakfast programme was “well-utilised”, and school lunches were given to any students that needed them.
Each year, the school provided between 50 and 60 students with winter shoes and offered uniform support where possible, he said. It also ensured there “were not any financial barriers in students attending school camp”.
“We try to identify which students’ families are really struggling, and we do have some financial assistance we can offer,” he said.
The school also worked with a range of external agencies to help families deal with the issues created by experiencing financial strain. Often, this also involved dealing with the mental health needs of students, he said.
A second full-time counsellor had also been employed for next year to further support student wellbeing, he said.
Ōtūmoetai College deputy principal Jude Brown said throughout the year some families had “become more stretched”, with a slight increase in the number of students needing food while at school.
She said these financial struggles came to light when families could not pay to replace worn-out school uniforms or replace broken devices.
“Uniform items are purchased from the school pastoral budget. If Chromebooks are needed for learning, we have some school sets we can lend to students,” she said.
It also delivered certain families with meals through support from Kura Kai, a charity supplying schools with freezers full of cooked food.
The school’s wellness centre and counsellors could make referrals to outside agencies, including the new Social Supermarket in Ōtūmoetai.
“With end-of-year camps and activities about to happen, this can relieve the financial pressure for some.”
Bay Financial Mentors general manager Shirley McCombe said families that could not afford food for school lunches or uniforms were often “embarrassed”. It could also lead to children being kept home from school, she said.
“I think the new year will be very telling. We are already seeing people generally struggling with the cost of living, and the post-Christmas period is always very tough on families.”
McCombe said the service - formerly Tauranga Budget Advisory Service - was keen to work with schools next year to “begin supporting whānau who are in difficulty”. She said school costs were “only one symptom of the struggle they are experiencing”.
Foodbank manager Nicki Goodwin said the foodbank received about two calls a week from Tauranga schools referring families to the service.
While the numbers were not high, she said schools often connected families with other services like community centres and hospital departments who would then refer them to the foodbank.
Goodwin said she was “amazed” to hear how schools were supporting students and families internally — saying it would bring a “a real sense of wellbeing and aroha” to those communities.
“The schools must be doing a great job in-house as far as providing for their families and knowing who needs the support. If the school is able to meet some of their needs — that must be hugely comforting.”
She said most schools in Tauranga donated annually to the foodbank for which she was very grateful.
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