https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32861 2026-08-22T02:18:02Z 2026-08-22T02:18:02Z Wainwright, Emma McHugh, Ellen https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/33720 2026-08-20T10:13:19Z 2026-08-07T00:00:00Z

Title: School Briefing. Food poverty and primary schools: key principles and recommendations for support Authors: Wainwright, Emma; McHugh, Ellen Abstract: Summary: UK-wide research by the food bank charity Trussell (2025) found that: Deepening poverty across the UK is evidenced by the proportion of people who struggle to access enough nutritious and varied food. According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the number of people in the UK who are food insecure has increased by 2.8 million between 2021/22 and 2023/24, which amounts to a 60% increase in two years. Description: The full report: Wainwright, E. and McHugh, E. (2026) Food poverty and primary schools: New understandings of the literature and evidence. Brunel University of London. doi: 10.17633/rd.brunel.32688648 is available in Brunel figshare at https://doi.org/10.17633/rd.brunel.32688648.

2026-08-07T00:00:00Z Chappell, Anne Lockyer, Sharon Sandling, Jonathan Weaver, Simon https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/33679 2026-08-12T02:00:29Z 2026-08-02T00:00:00Z

Title: The social role of humour in classroom management: towards a theoretical understanding Authors: Chappell, Anne; Lockyer, Sharon; Sandling, Jonathan; Weaver, Simon Abstract: This theoretically-informed paper brings together the fields of education and humour studies to examine the complexities of humour in social interaction and relationships in school classrooms. We address the lack of understanding of humour in the classroom, and the nuances of education and humour, in examples of contemporary English education policy. We argue that education and humour are theoretically aligned in their social purpose of creating and disrupting social interaction and relationships. We illustrate that examples of English policy discourse that foreground behaviour management rather than classroom management are narrow and fail to consider important aspects of social interaction and humour. Humour’s social role provides a critical lens to examine the complexity of classroom interactions and social relationships that are crucial in classroom management. We conclude that humour is a part of the complexity of classroom management and challenge examples of reductionist regulatory discourses of behaviour management in current policymaking.

2026-08-02T00:00:00Z Wainwright, Emma McHugh, Ellen https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/33625 2026-08-10T09:08:11Z 2026-06-15T00:00:00Z

Title: Food poverty and primary schools: New understandings of the literature and evidence Authors: Wainwright, Emma; McHugh, Ellen Abstract: There is increasing focus on the demand for charitable food provision and its related socio-economic need within public and policy discourse, and across a range of different sectors, including Education. Effective strategies to alleviate hunger and its circumstances require evidence-led policy and practice which are underpinned by careful and critical evaluation of impact. This report was commissioned by the Education Strategy Unit (ESU) of the City of London Corporation (CoLC). It has three aims: • To review academic and grey literature on food poverty and food insecurity • To highlight the prevalence and impact of food poverty and food insecurity among primary-aged children in the UK • To distil current knowledge from a wide range of contemporary sources and generate new understandings of what can be done to better support families and children living with everyday hunger. The geographical focus of the review is UK-wide to highlight the contextual drivers of food poverty and insecurity, with emphasis placed on the short- and long-term impacts of austerity policies and the on-going cost-of-living crisis. In so doing, it draws on and details the literature relating specifically to primary-aged children and their families, and the role schools and the wider education sector have in the mitigation of hunger. Over 100 pieces of literature and evidence have been reviewed and synthesised. The report offers a set of key principles and recommendations to support primary schools in responding to food poverty.

2026-06-15T00:00:00Z Rivers, Ian https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/33610 2026-08-12T15:16:59Z 2011-11-04T00:00:00Z

Title: Morbidity among bystanders of bullying behavior at school: concepts, concerns, and clinical/research issues Authors: Rivers, Ian Abstract: The role of the bystander is not one that is easily understood in the anti-bullying literature. Roles within the unofficial hierarchy of the schoolyard and playground overlap considerably, and each role has its own social dynamic that brings with it a shifting behavioral landscape that affects every student. In this article, the mental health correlates of three categories of bystander are explored: the co-victim, the isolate, and the confederate. Each category of bystander has its own characterizations and mental health correlates. Reports of post-traumatic stress, internalized hostility, substance use, and suicide ideation are discussed with reference to studies involving witnesses of family abuse, community and school violence as well as bullying. It is argued that bystanders are the key to challenging bullying in schools, and their mental health and well-being is pivotal to the effectiveness of anti-bullying interventions.

2011-11-04T00:00:00Z