The Financial Inclusion Team's work focuses on maximising family incomes, ensuring families are getting all the benefits and entitlements they’re eligible for. Team members now work across seven secondary schools, their primary clusters and early learning centres offering invaluable guidance and support to families.
In 2023 Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland worked with the Financial Inclusion Team to deliver child poverty and rights sessions, to provide a greater understanding of their work within the school community, and a forum for discussing poverty and stigma. 70 learners in five secondary schools took part.
Learners from Grange Academy in Kilmarnock with Financial Inclusion officer Julie McColl
The CPAG sessions were designed to raise awareness of the causes of poverty in Scotland, the impact this can have on children’s rights and cost barriers families and pupil face at school.
“I have learned that although school costs can be difficult and too much money for some, schools also help struggling families in lots of ways. All classes could learn about poverty and what helps.”
Young people who took part said they had a greater understanding of the prevalence of poverty in Scotland. One pupil from Loudoun Academy thought that:
“Poverty is much more present in Ayrshire than I thought… I have learned that people can get a wide variety of help with money, and this can happen through school”
Young people taking part in the Cost of the School Day session
Learners also explored cost barriers to learning at school and looked at how article 26 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) - the right to benefit from social security - was being upheld in their schools through the work of financial inclusion officers.
Young people taking part thought it was important to normalise support and remove the stigma of asking for help. One learner from Stewarton Academy reflected:
“I think there should be more knowledge about what people are entitled to and how to receive this help.”
A Kilmarnock Academy pupil also highlighted the importance of removing stigma
“Lots more advertising about the help out there. Make it normal to ask.”
A pupil from St Joseph’s Academy agreed:
“We maybe need to make this clearer and make it not embarrassing to get help.”
Learners enjoyed meeting with the Financial Inclusion Team and came away with a better understanding of help available. One Grange Academy pupil said:
“I learned there is a person in school who can help families with money worries…. I learned about education maintenance allowance and the school clothing grant.”
What we need for school thoughts from young people who took part in sessions
Kirsty Campbell, who leads the Cost of the School Day Voice network at CPAG in Scotland and delivered the sessions:
“Looking at social security through a rights-based lens helped to open up what can sometimes be daunting conversations. Learners explored unhelpful stereotypes and poverty related stigma, particularly regarding claiming entitlements. Learners were quick to identify that stigma and unhelpful attitudes made it more difficult for families to apply and seek the financial support they are entitled to.
It was great to have the Financial Inclusion Team join us and put a friendly face to their service, sharing how they work with families and where they are based in the school. They chatted with learners about key school related entitlements and wider help for young people, including the young carers grant and local authority wide access to free period products.
All the young people who took part approached the topic sensitively and felt very strongly that awareness of help available in their school was crucial.”
The pilot work in East Ayrshire showed that school-based financial support not only means that families receive more of the help they are entitled to, but also address some of the stress and worry families experience when applying for entitlements. The team offer help with completing applications and meeting families in spaces within the school, home or community that they feel comfortable in. Debbie Nicoll, Interim Financial Inclusion Delivery Manager, East Ayrshire Council describes the team's approach:
“The Financial Inclusion Team in East Ayrshire promotes access without barriers and an ‘information for all’ approach. Working alongside Education and other services and partners, we regularly share information with families about welfare entitlements to enable everyone to access information and advice when needed. Working to reduce stigma and sharing a message of access and entitlement. It has been a real privilege to work with pupils and support them to shape the message shared within our communities.”
The Financial Inclusion Team work closely with school colleagues in guidance promoting their service including access to education maintenance allowance, free school meals, clothing grants and discretionary support, to help manage emergency situations that might come up. The team also work alongside local delivery staff from Social Security Scotland to promote uptake on the newer welfare provisions such as Scottish child payment.
After meeting the team at a launch event in November 2023, Spokesperson for Education and Children and Young People Councillor Elaine Cowan, thought that:
“The role of the Financial Inclusion Team is to support the outreach work already carried out by the Campus and to speak directly to local families about financial issues that may be worrying them. They have knowledge and experience that can really make a difference to local families, and it is definitely worth getting in touch with them to ensure that your family is receiving all the support they are due.”
Learners said they wanted to build on the current work happening in their schools and look at ways they can promote and share this further. Since taking part in the sessions pupils have worked alongside their financial inclusion officer to not only raise awareness of cost of the school day measures currently in place at school but to also promote the services offered to families to maximise incomes. This has included poster campaigns, newsletter articles, poverty stigma quizzes, designing assemblies for peers and parent councils, producing videos for social media where pupils interviewed their financial inclusion officer about support offered and representing their views with elected members.
Doon and Robert Burns Academy have recently joined the Cost of the School Day Voice network, and all seven secondary schools in East Ayrshire have formed a Cost of the Day pupil group working to reduce costs at school and continue to highlight support available to families through the Financial Inclusion Team. The message across all schools is very clear.
“We need to get rid of the judgement, reduce the percentage of children in poverty and more help for people in and outside of school.” (Learner, East Ayrshire)
You might find this briefing useful - Referral pathways to money advice in education settings, from our colleagues at Public Health Scotland, has lots of advice for schools and local authorities.
