The value of the Pupil Premium is increasing. In an effort to provide schools with the resources to tackle disadvantage the government is promising even more money as an extra boost for those pupils on free school meals (FSM).
At the same time, we are told that the number of children in poverty is rising. Predictions around the impact of welfare cuts on families suggest that we are likely to see a rise rather than a fall in the number of disadvantaged pupils. While schools plug the gaps with the Pupil Premium so the number of gaps is growing.
For schools such as Jubilee Park Primary School in Tipton this is already having an impact. Headteacher Heidi Conner explained: “Parents in our area have been hit hard by the ‘Bedroom Tax’ on properties they have lived in for years where they now have to pay for spare rooms. They have found paying for trips, uniform and school dinners hard, leaving the school to pick up more of the tab than usual.”
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