Learning in poverty – persistent disadvantage in Blackpool

From lacking basic necessities to struggling with confidence and wellbeing, these challenges can make achieving at school feel almost impossible. Schools like Unity Academy are becoming critical support services for pupils, going above and beyond to help them thrive.

Acting Headteacher John Connolly shares the stark reality for pupils living and learning in one of the country’s poorest areas.

The first thing you notice working in schools in Blackpool is how visible the poverty is.

It’s there in the children arriving at school with unwashed clothes; in the pupils coming through the gates hungry; in the families who can’t afford even the most basic school uniform. 

At the schools where I’ve worked, we keep the uniform as simple and cheap as possible, but even then many families still need us to provide it for free. We run a pupil food bank inside the school, and we fund free breakfasts for both primary and secondary pupils. Around one in six secondary pupils relies on that breakfast provision each morning.

Tough living conditions

The effects of poverty stretch far beyond the classroom. Housing in Blackpool is often poor quality, with low council housing stock and a heavy reliance on private rentals. Many of our pupils live in overcrowded accommodation.

Some don’t even have a table where they can sit and complete homework, and some don’t have a proper bed to sleep in.

When children are living in those conditions, it becomes much harder for them to experience the kind of childhood many people would see as normal.

By the time some children start Reception, the impact is already clear. A number are still in nappies, and many arrive with significant speech and language difficulties. Those early disadvantages shape so much of what follows.

Schools try hard to fill the gaps, but even opportunities many schools take for granted can be difficult to provide here.

Trips, clubs, and cultural experiences often have to be fully funded by the school because families simply cannot contribute.

Every opportunity comes with an added cost that schools in more affluent areas may not have to consider.

School attendance

Attendance is another constant struggle. Some parents keep children at home for minor illnesses because they are not working and it feels easier to do so. But we also see genuine health problems linked to poverty. Poor diet, damp housing, overcrowding, and stress all affect children’s health.

In families where parents are going out to work, older children are often carers for their younger siblings, so we’ll see siblings off school at the same time.

Developing resilience

What stands out most about many of our pupils is not bad behaviour, but vulnerability. Many crave attention because they struggle with resilience and emotional regulation. Being told they’ve done something wrong can feel overwhelming for them. That’s why we’ve worked hard to become a trauma-informed school, building systems that prioritise consistency, safety and trust.

At the same time, we have high expectations.

Clear routines, rewards, and consequences matter because they provide boundaries and stability that many pupils don’t get elsewhere.

Staff buy into that culture completely, and the consistency helps children feel secure.

Once that foundation is in place, the challenge becomes helping pupils cope with discomfort and develop resilience.

During exams, for example, we have staff waiting outside halls to support pupils who panic or become overwhelmed.

For many students, managing that anxiety is as much a challenge as the exam itself.

Low aspirations

There is also a deep-rooted sense of limited opportunity in parts of Blackpool.

Too many young people grow up believing that benefits are the only realistic future available to them.

Schools work hard to raise aspirations, but that mindset can be difficult to break when pupils rarely see examples of different possibilities around them.

Another barrier for our pupils experiencing disadvantage is confidence. Pupils from more affluent backgrounds are more likely to believe they belong in those higher pathways. Many of our students struggle to see themselves that way, even when their academic achievement is strong. That’s why we work so hard to build resilience and self-belief.

Learning challenges

The community itself is constantly changing. Almost every week we admit new pupils while others leave. We regularly receive pupils midway through Year 10 or Year 11, after they have already missed large sections of their education. This instability is strongly linked to poverty, as families have to move where accommodation is cheapest.

Many of our deprived pupils with SEND also struggle with social, emotional and mental health difficulties, which makes learning incredibly difficult. Yet those overlapping needs are not reflected properly in funding systems.

Going above and beyond

Schools working in places with entrenched poverty are doing far more than delivering lessons. They are providing food, stability, safety, emotional support, opportunity, and belief. They are overcoming barriers simply not seen in other parts of the country. The progress made in those circumstances deserves to be recognised for what it truly is.