A desperate schoolgirl was seen lining her pockets with food so her sister at home didn't go hungry.
This is the harsh reality many poor families across Birmingham due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Teachers at Oasis Academy in Short Heath, Birmingham, have found that some kids are also coming in with practically empty lunchboxes.
Some children who had no other choice but to live in temporary accommodation, have been bringing the free biscuits provided in their B&Bs and budget hotels as their only food for lunch, Birmingham Live reports.
Pam Atwal, safeguarding leader at the school said: "We had a child in temporary accommodation who was putting food in her pocket for her younger sibling who doesn't attend school.
"When we spoke to her mum, she said she didn't need to do that but there must have been a reason she felt she needed to do it.
"We've also had children taking pencils and paper because they've got nothing at home to be able to use.
"And we've had parents who have not been wanting to use the food pantry who have gone as long as they can without meals themselves so they can feed their children. They come to us when they physically can't do it anymore."
Pam says that the biggest clue to food poverty at home can be spotted in children's lunchboxes.
"We've really picked up on what's going on by children's lunchboxes," said Pam.
"Some have been staying in temporary accommodation and have been coming in with just the free biscuits from the hotels for their lunch.
"They don't want to say 'I don't have any lunch' but we like to ring their parents to ask if everything is OK."
She added: "Some children don't want their parents to know we've picked up on this, they ask us not to ring saying 'mum and dad will be so embarrassed'.
"For those kids, we've just been giving them dinners. We've cooked so many extra meals throughout the pandemic. I think this has been the case in every school."
The school offers a 'food pantry' for families to come and collect tinned food throughout the school holiday and is working with Fair Share to offer fresh provisions every Thursday.
"The food pantry is one of our proudest achievements," said Pam. "Parents can email to say they need food and they can come into the food pantry Monday to Friday.
"We even include sanitary towel products there too which have been really well received. In the first lockdown, people were coming in for toilet roll too, which Morrisons kindly donated.
"There's a stigma that if you use food banks you have got to accept what you're given but we know that parents want to feed their children healthy things.
"We have a Fair Share delivery come in every Thursday and parents book a slot to come in and collect fresh foods, like chicken and vegetables rather than just tins of beans and soup. The children that come in on Thursdays get a free lunch as well."
Oasis used to provide a free breakfast club but the funding for this has sadly been cut.
"This has led to a massive increase in children who are hungry throughout the day," said Pam, who has taken her food hygiene qualifications so that she can cook meals for children throughout the summer to keep down the costs of having to pay for a cook to do this.
"Universal free school meals are available for reception and year 1 and 2 children but it needs to be given to other children too.
"We have younger siblings who are eating well and their key stage 2 siblings who are not getting enough to eat."
The school also runs a 'uniform bank', where pupils can pick up free uniform and shoes kindly donated by others who have outgrown it.
"There's been an increase in parents using our uniform bank too," said Pam.
"When you're battling to fund meals, you can't fund new school shoes. Lots of children grew out of their uniform and shoes during lockdown.
"And those that are eating less healthily are putting on weight as parents can only feed them what they've got. But it means they are outgrowing their uniforms quicker."
Oasis Academy Short Heath is putting on an activity programme through the government-led Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme but it can only accommodate 50 children.
"We have a really nice holiday programme with Limitless Fitness where we're doing sports trips every week and having dance and crafts teachers in doing creative activities that the children have missed out on," she said.
"It will also give the children chance to socialise more, which is something they've missed too.
"But 50 children is hardly anything really, not when we have 444 in the school. I couldn't even advertise it because I knew we wouldn't be able to accommodate the number of families who would want to take it up.
"So I've just had to signpost it to the most vulnerable families."
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