to survive. Consequently, if secure attachments are not formed this would lead to distress and negative experiences concluding that a trusting relationship is not formed between the pupil and the facilitator. Belsky and Fearon (2002) support Bowlby and state ‘poor attachment outcomes are associated with long-term adverse consequences in cognitive, adaptive, and behavioral domains’.
Comparing Maslow (1968c), Bronfenbrenner (1979) Sameroff (2010) and Shonokoff and Philips (2010) all deem environment and contributing factors such as: family and peers as priority. Bronfenbrenner places them on the microsystem and that is where the child develops the knowledge and empathy towards care givers, school and any other educational setting. Bronfenbrenner placed the microsystem at the inner circle closest to the individual, emphasising the importance, similarly Maslow positioned these needs at the bottom of the hierarchy, again supporting Bronfenbrenner, Sameroff, Shonokoff and Philips and how important they are.
The more stressors that are inflicted onto a child where they cohabitate compromises their learning (Science Daily,2017). For a child to feel safe and partake in their own learning they need to live in a stress free and comfortable environment. Four million children live in poverty in the United Kingdom (The Children’s Society, 2017a). The Early Years Foundation Stage allows for early intervention, and to reach out to those hard to reach families including families with teenage parents, families from minority ethnic communities, families where the parents or children are disabled with support (NSPCC, 2015). Support is necessary to ensure children do not live in poverty and everything is being done to support the family by way of introducing help. An illustration of help is free school meals. Department for Education (2017b) state 14.1% of primary school children receive free school meals (FSM). The Children’s Society (2017b) suggest that FSM are a crucial entitlement and having a healthy, hot meal each day enables the child to concentrate and can have a positive impact on classroom behaviour supporting the DfE and the need for FSM to continue.
The coalition government have pledged to end child poverty by 2020 (Poverty and Social Exclusion, 2014), however, one in five children are still going to school hungry (Pells, 2016). Breakfast clubs and a
