The School Leadership Podcast · 2026-03-03 · 27 min
Recent research suggests that nearly three million schoolchildren in the UK have experienced hygiene poverty in the past year. This means everyday essentials such as shampoo, toothpaste and laundry detergent have become unaffordable for their families. The consequences are significant: hygiene poverty can affect confidence and the ability to learn, and in some cases lead to children avoiding school altogether. And while the wider causes of hygiene poverty require systemic solutions, we’re increasingly seeing school staff stepping in to support students and their families. In this episode, Sam Wass, director of the Institute for the Science of Early Years at the University of East London, and Gemma Humphreys, senior campaigns manager at smol, join NAHT assistant general secretary James Bowen to explore how schools can recognise and respond to this issue. They discuss what to say (and what not to say), handling peer comments, protecting a child’s dignity, and how to have sensitive conversations with compassion and confidence. The new smol hygiene poverty resource for school staff is available at smol.com/teacherresource .
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