'Pupil Premium' will tackle unfairness in Islington (Islington Liberal Democrats)

Islington Liberal Democrats <Islington_ld@cix.co.uk>

'Pupil Premium' will tackle unfairness in Islington

July 29, 2010 12:00 AM

LibDem plans for a pupil premium will mean extra funding for Islington schools.

Liberal Democrats this week welcomed the Government announcement that extra funding (the 'pupil premium') will be introduced in Islington schools from next September (2011).

The new funding will mean that funding will go to local schools to give pupils from less well-off backgrounds the extra support they need and deserve. This will allow them to have an equal chance for a good education, no matter which school they go to in the borough.

The Government has this week launched a consultation on the way the Pupil Premium should be implemented including what deprivation indicators to use.

Islington Liberal Democrat education spokesperson, councillor Paula Belford, said:

"We've seen a dramatic rise in pupil achievement over the last ten years in Islington when the Liberal Democrats were running the council. But there is still a big gap between the best achieving schools and the lowest.

"By providing funding to follow the pupils who need it the most the Pupil Premium really will make Islington fairer. Labour's education system left too many children falling behind.

"This extra government funding was a key Liberal Democrat promise at the general election. Its things like this rather than Islington Labour's expensive free school meals that will make a real difference to Islington children in both primary and secondary schools."

Additional information

1. Individual headteachers will decide how the Pupil Premium for each school is best spent. This could mean smaller class sizes, more individual tuition or catch-up classes, but it will be for the school to decide.

2. Liberal Democrats pushed for the Pupil Premium to come from outside the schools budget so this will be new, extra funding.

3. The Pupil Premium was one of the sticking points of the negotiations with Labour - they refused to agree to the idea.

4. Labour's free-school-meals-for-all cost Islington council taxpayers £3.2million every year but they only go to primary school children. They are also provided to all pupils irrespective of their parents' income so parents like Boris Johnson benefit from them. Pupils living in Haringey, Hackney and Camden who attend Islington primary schools also benefit from Islington council taxpayers subsidising their children's free school meals.