A headteacher in Hertfordshire has said child poverty is the worst she has seen it during her more than two decades in the role. Mairead Waugh, a headteacher at St Philip Howard Catholic Primary School in Hertfordshire, said poverty levels had “increased significantly”. She told the PA news agency: “It’s widespread. I’ve been a head for 25 years, I’ve never seen it as bad as it is at the moment and the numbers are just increasing week-on-week currently.”