Heads are spending weekends running foodbanks, despite their crippling workloads, as data shows a rise in the number of schools offering the provision since the cost-of-living crisis took hold. surveys show the number of teachers who receive food parcels has also rocketed almost three-fold since the pandemic. The banks are becoming the new frontline of the cost-of-living crisis as food prices soar, despite a dip in inflation. Office for National Statistics figures published this week show UK food inflation sat at 19.1 per cent in April, despite overall inflation of 8.7 per cent. A report by the Resolution Foundation on Friday found food will this summer overtake energy costs as the biggest hit to family finances. But schools say the quality and quantity of donations they鈥檙e able to hand out has fallen, with shelves more likely to contain instant noodles and biscuits than meat, vegetables and grains. Benefactors, including other staff and parents, are having to tighten their own pursestrings. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a chicken and egg situation鈥e鈥檙e here to educate but you can鈥檛 educate children who are hungry,鈥 said Jane Lunn, pastoral and welfare manager at Bracken Edge Primary School in Leeds. Teacher Tapp data from 4,823 state school teachers last Thursday shows 21 per cent said their school ran a foodbank. A smaller poll conducted by YouGov in February 2021 showed 19 per cent of surveyed schools started a foodbank, but this related just to during the pandemic. The Teacher Tapp findings show 6 per cent of respondents said their provision launched in the 鈥減ast year or so鈥. Primary school reopens food bank Bracken Edge set up a bank during Covid, but closed it when community donations dropped off. But it relaunched it six weeks ago, with donations provided by the Leeds City Council-funded charity Give A Gift. It helps about 35 families whose children attend the school. 鈥淲e record if children are coming in in dirty uniforms, if they’re asking for breakfast. We pick it up that way,鈥 Lunn said. 鈥淚f that basic being fed and feeling cared for is not there, then they鈥檙e not going to learn anything.” Pupils in families who used foodbanks scored almost half a grade lower per GCSE subject, even controlling for prior attainment and other aspects of household finances. Authors of a COSMO study of 13,000 youngsters in England said its findings raised additional concerns about the long-term impact of the cost-of-living crisis and called for an urgent review of free school meal criteria. St Andrew鈥檚 C of E Primary in Enfield, north London, opened its food pantry in October after staff noticed how often parents were talking about the cost of living. Other services were available within the borough, but Jude Statham, the school鈥檚 head, said parents were 鈥渧ery proud, they want discretion鈥. About 12 families, who access the tucked-away pantry during drop off, regularly use the government grant-funded provision. But it adds extra hours on to Statham’s already “immense” workload. She stocks up on food at the weekend d before filling the shelves on Monday mornings. One in six leaders say staff use foodbanks A separate Teacher Tapp survey also shows an increase in staff using the banks. In December 2019, 6 per cent of headteachers said they were aware of someone in the school who had used a foodbank that term. This rose to 16 per cent last week. Andrew Carter, head of Sandal Castle VA Community Primary School in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, has run a foodbank from his office for eight years. He first noticed staff using it during Covid, and now has three support staff users. Two early career teachers sometimes drop in. Shelves of donations line the walls of Andrew Carters office at Sandal Castle VA Community Primary School in Wakefield 鈥淚 suspect there鈥檚 more but I don鈥檛 keep any records. They come in when I鈥檓 out and about in classes.鈥 Caroline Derbyshire, the chief executive of Saffron Academy Trust, said at least two of the trust鈥檚 seven schools had recently set up pantries where staff could donate items for their colleagues 鈥 including teachers 鈥 to pick up. 鈥淚f a society wants to take its own temperature, it鈥檚 a fairly poor indication if highly-qualified professions have people in these situations,鈥 she said. 鈥榃e only have instant noodles鈥 But as demand has grown, donations have dwindled. Katie Barry, head of St George鈥檚 CoE Community Primary in Lincolnshire, has run a foodbank since the pandemic. 鈥淎 couple of years ago there was often chicken, there was often mince, you might get rice or pasta and some jars of sauce,鈥 she said. 鈥淣ow it鈥檚 items like instant noodles, cereals and biscuits.鈥 Carter 鈥 whose foodbank relies almost entirely on staff and parents 鈥 said donations had fallen by around a fifth. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not getting some of the more expensive items 鈥 sources of protein like tins of tuna. We鈥檙e getting more of the basics like pasta,鈥 he said. 鈥淎t the minute we鈥檙e just about offering what we need to but we鈥檙e going to struggle to sustain it without some more donations coming in.鈥 He said he could only see 鈥渢hings getting worse. The way food prices are going, and wages not keeping up. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to see a lot more families finding themselves in really difficult times.鈥 The leaders鈥 union NAHT said members had reported a 鈥渟ignificant鈥 increase in the use of foodbanks. 鈥淲hile schools will always try to do their best for their pupils and families, this really is going way beyond what we should expect of them,鈥 said James Bowen, its assistant general secretary. 鈥淭he government must urgently address the root causes of the scandal of rising child poverty, which is harming not only children鈥檚 education, but also their life chances.鈥 The Department for Education was contacted for comment.