Children arrive at school in shoes not longer fit to wear

At Roslyn School in Palmerston North, Office Manager Vanessa is seeing more children arrive at school in shoes that are no longer fit to wear.

Some are too small. Others are so worn that they have split open, or children’s toes are coming through the ends.

Vanessa has worked in the school office for eight years and says the need has gradually increased, particularly since Covid. It isn’t only shoes. More children are coming to the school’s breakfast club and getting snacks, while demand for socks, jackets and other essentials has also grown.

“There is a greater need than there ever has been,” she says.

Vanessa believes the cost of living is a major driver. With families having to stretch their budgets across the essentials their children need, shoes can fall down the list.

For larger families, those pressures can be particularly difficult. Vanessa says the school has seen children sharing uniform items like jackets and jerseys, with siblings sometimes alternating which child comes to school because there isn’t enough to go around.

Parents also approach the school when they can’t afford to replace a child’s shoes, and Vanessa says they are often relieved to learn the school has pairs available.

“We have parents who are worried because they can’t supply the shoes, so they are always relieved when we tell them we can give them shoes.”

The shoes Roslyn School receives through KidsCan are kept at school, meaning staff can provide a new pair as soon as they see a child needs them. Often it is a teacher or learning support staff member who notices first, because children can be reluctant to ask for help themselves.

Vanessa makes sure the shoes go to children who genuinely need them. Children show her the pair they are wearing, and often it is immediately obvious that they need replacing.

“We do go through quite a few of them at the moment, especially with seniors as they are growing so quickly. Sometimes the kids have outgrown them, but most of the time they are just completely worn out.”

For Vanessa, having shoes immediately available matters because the alternative can be a child staying home.

Instead, the school can respond as soon as the need becomes apparent, providing a child with a pair of shoes that fits and removing one more barrier to being at school.

For Vanessa, it is one practical way the school can remove some of the pressure families are carrying – and make sure children aren’t missing out because of something as basic as the shoes on their feet.

“These kids should be allowed to have what other kids have.”