£1.5m funding boost for schools

A MAJOR investment of £1.5 million for schools in Warrington has been announced by the Government.
The funding will come through the Pupil Premium, one of the four key manifesto pledges from the Liberal Democrats.
In its first year the programme will target £625 million extra funding to the poorest children in schools, with this figure rising to £2.5 billion each year, by the end of this Parliament.
In year one, every school is guaranteed an extra £430 from the Government for every child on free school meals, for every looked-after child and for the children of service men and women.
In Warrington this should benefit more than 3,600 children and bring in over £1.5 million of extra money.
Borough council leader Ian Marks said: “The Premium gives our head teachers the freedom to use the money how they want, in the ways they know work – not how politicians in Whitehall tell them to. There may be extra classes for children falling behind or it may provide one-to-one tuition.
“By helping some of the most disadvantaged children, we can help whole classes work together better and move forward faster. This is great news for children, parents and teachers alike. Despite the recent controversy over tuition fees, all the evidence shows the best way to help bright kids from poor families get to university is to target additional resources at them when they are younger and so give them a head start in life.
“It is important parents and teachers help register all pupils eligible for free school meals by ‘census day’ on January 20 so that Warrington gains the full benefit of this extra funding from next April.”