Coalition’s Pupil Premium Takes Effect from Friday 1 April
Schools to receive an extra £430 annually for pupils who receive free school meals
From the 1st April schools will receive an extra £430 annually per pupil who receives free school meals. This pupil premium, a key Liberal Democrat election pledge, won’t be allocated to any specific budget and schools are being encouraged to use their judgement to decide how best to spend the money. The aim is to provide extra educational support for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Government figures show that a high proportion of pupils on free school meals have special education needs while only 27% of pupils who receive free school meals attain 5 good (A* - C) grades at GCSE, compared to the average of 53%.
The pupil premium has the potential to bring the benefits of extra teaching and specialist equipment to those who need it (and will benefit from it) most. Assistive technology, such as text to speech tools like Texthelp Read & Write Gold for Schools,
can improve access to the curriculum for those learners with special educational needs and literacy difficulties while structure learning tools like Nessy Learning Programme have been shown to improve motivation as well as skills.
If you would like more information on the types of Assistive Technology available, call us on 0800 018 0045.
Background:
Children of families whose combined annual income is less than £16,000 are eligible for free school meals. In January 2010 18.5& of children in primary schools and 15.4% in secondary schools in England were eligibly for free schools means
Children’s Minister Sarah Teather commented:
“For too long social background has been a deciding factor in a child’s achievement and future prospects… [which is] why I’m delighted we are today announcing a new pupil premium, which will give extra funding to schools to help them tackle the inequalities that have been a part of our state system for far too long.”
