CITY MP Stephen Mosley has welcomed new figures which show disadvantaged children in Chester are to receive £715,000 this year under the coalition government’s new pupil premium.
The pupil premium is a new policy promised by both Conservatives and Liberal Democrats before the general election last year.
It is an extra lump sum of cash which follows every disadvantaged child and is received by schools, allowing them to provide additional support such as one-to-one tuition and extra pastoral care.
The Government has announced that in the year from April 2011, the pupil premium will be worth £430 for every pupil on free school meals, £430 for every looked-after child, and £200 for every child who has a parent in the armed services.
This means that in Chester this year: 1,700 children overall will benefit from an extra £715,000; 73 children of members of the armed services will benefit from an extra £14,600.
Mr Mosley said: “This is fantastic news for children in Chester. The gap between the academic performance of children from deprived backgrounds and their peers has been ignored for too long.
“The pupil premium will tackle this disparity head on, providing targeted funding for those who need it most. This could mean extra one-to-one tuition or more pastoral support.
“The Coalition Government didn’t create these problems but, even in these tough times, it is delivering a massive boost to the education of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable children.”
