There is little information about, and understanding of, how children from families living in poverty experience school, as opposed to children from better-off families. This paper is based on the views of children aged 5-11 in schools across Northern Ireland, UK. It argues that family poverty impacts on every aspect of a child's experience of school from the earliest years of primary school and, therefore, that policy interventions to improve educational outcomes are unlikely to be effective unless they are accompanied by far broader social policy initiatives to reduce poverty and inequality. (Contains 4 notes and 5 tables.)