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The North London School Preparing Students for the Cost of Living.

"It's just really sad, isn't it? What's happening in the world?" asks Melissa Perera, 33, an autism specialist tutor. 


"I have heard some students at primary schools are no longer getting hot meals, which could be the only hot meal they have that day," she explains. 


The cost of living crisis has, according to the NASUWT teaching union, had a profound negative impact on the education of school children. The union claims 6 in 10 teachers said pupils were arriving to school hungry, and almost 70% said their pupils "were lacking in energy and concentration." 


However, The Holmewood School, where Melissa tutors at, aims to help its students prepare for independent living. 


Like all students at Holmewood, Melissa's pupils receive "life skills lessons" to broaden their understanding of areas including home economics, budgeting and personal finances. 


"In our lessons, we've been looking at different types of bills, looking at ranking them in terms of the priority of what needs to be paid, so obviously heating comes first," she explains. 


"We looked how we can save money on our heating bills; buying a higher tog duvet, wearing more layers in the house, looking at double glazing, then we took a trip to IKEA to look at the difference between a higher tog duvet and a lower tog duvet."  


Unfortunately, rising prices have impacted some of Melissa's lessons, particularly the home cooking classes: "We've had to ask for more budget as the cost of food prices have gone up." 


"A pack of halal beef mince used to be £2.95 to [now] £5.95. And that's only for 500g. Ketchup used to be £1, now it's £3.19. And that's only for 300g. Each term, we have a theme. Last time it was just basic cooking; this term, it's Italian cooking. The price of pasta has increased; we used to get three packets, now we only get two." 


Despite these challenges, Melissa is glad that Holmewood provides its students with these valuable lessons: "I think we should have learned this sort of stuff when we were at school." 


"For example, mortgages, finances and savings, this would have set us up for these crises."


Andy Lamb, 52, Holmewood's deputy headteacher, says: "We have a strong focus on the academic progress of our students, but also their future independence once they leave us."


"Many of our students are more able to look after themselves in terms of cooking, ironing, budgeting. They're significantly more able to fend for themselves than me or most of my peers when I went off to university." 


"There's always a lot of pressure on the timetable, and mainstream schools struggle to find the time to give to teaching these important skills, but certainly, for us, it's a key part of what makes our school unique."

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