Today (Thursday 29 April) the Sutton Trust has published polling
of teachers on their priorities for pupil premium funding and
expressed concern about the change to the reporting date for
pupil premium eligibility.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT,
said: “That schools are being forced to use pupil premium funding
to plug holes in their budgets should be of huge concern to
government. It shows just how dire schools’ finances have become.
A decade of austerity and underfunding has left schools with no
safety net and many have found themselves unable to weather the
additional costs and lost income caused by the pandemic.
"And it is those children that are most in need of help who are
bearing the brunt. The government has made bold claims about
their ambitions for recovery and said that no child will be left
behind. But it is failing to back these words with action and is
leaving schools without the funding and resources they need for
the job ahead.
“Worse, by implementing the change in reporting date for pupil
premium in the middle of the pandemic they have actively removed
support for children from families who have been hardest hit. A
significant number of children have become eligible for help via
pupil premium but they will now not receive any additional
funding for another whole year.
"A recent NAHT survey showed that the amount of money lost due to
this change is more than schools are being given for education
recovery. The government is giving with one hand while knowingly
taking away with the other. This must be put right. Government
must come clean about how much they have saved with this change,
and they must put that money back into school budgets
immediately.”
