See how much the government has just cut free school meal funding by in your area

[noblegiraffe]

After the government made it quite clear that they didn't care about kids going hungry during the holidays, and during a time when school budgets are in dire straits, they have now cut pupil premium funding to schools at a time when the number of children needing free school meals has gone through the roof.

The way they have done this is quite sneaky. They have changed the date that the FSM data is collected on from the January school census to the one the previous October. This means that schools will miss out on a year's pupil premium funding for children who signed up for FSM between Oct 2020 and Jan 2021, where those children would have previously been eligible for funding.

"An FOI obtained by Jolley shows the DfE has assessed the financial impact of the date change. But it refused to release it, claiming it “could harm the department’s reputation in regard to the accuracy and credibility of the statistical information it produces”.

Vicky Ford, the children’s minister, told the Stoke-on-Trent Live website the change “won’t actually make a huge difference. What we’ve done is to give schools more certainty for the year ahead. If you based it on the January census, they have got very short notice.”"

And yet FOI requests show that it will actually make millions of pounds worth of difference.

schoolsweek.co.uk/revealed-how-much-your-area-will-lose-from-pupil-premium-funding-change/

You can view how much your local council will lose in pupil premium funding because of the change here (where data was provided in FOI requests):

schoolsweek.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Pupil-Premium-changes-3.xlsx

Arseholes-to go for those in most need is disgusting

This feels like they're deliberately targeting kids on free school meals, when you put it together with the repeated refusal to continue FSM provision in the holidays (and the repeated u-turns in the face of Marcus Rashford).

As well as that, there was the failed laptop scheme that left disadvantaged pupils unable to effectively engage in remote learning - some pupils were still waiting for their laptops when schools reopened in March. Even the Daily Mail was appalled and ended up stepping in on that one with fundraising for laptops to make up for the government's shortcomings.

Why doesn't the government want to fund schools properly, and why in particular does it not care about disadvantaged children?

Bastards. You see kids at school absolutely throwing food down their throats at dinner time because its the only food they will get. If anything the fsm provision needs to be expanded to also include toast and cereals in the mornings.

Its ok, we got a whopping amount of 'catch up premium' to make up for it.

A lot of the places that didn’t respond had significant increases in numbers of pupils eligible for - & receiving - FSM throughout the pandemic, too, so if anything a considerably larger sum has evaporated. Genuinely dread to think what Tower Hamlets, for example will be like now: the [www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/Documents/One-TH/Part-I-Poverty,-debt,-and-unemployment.pdf 2011 report]] into poverty in the Borough noted 57% of children were in receipt of FSM; & the issues with “the missing middle” are clearly set out in it.

Oh drat the thing: 2011 report!

@MildredPuppy

Its ok, we got a whopping amount of 'catch up premium' to make up for it.

Yes, a whopping £80 per pupil, a quarter of which isn't new funding and has been taken from other areas. E.g. they scrapped the £55 million Y7 catch-up fund.

Do people not care that the government has cut funding for the most disadvantaged pupils?

There was a lot of (pseudo, apparently) concern for disadvantaged kids when MNetters thought they could use them as an argument for why schools needed to be open.

Bastards.

We are committed to feeding all some, mainly those who can pay, small smattering of others children.

This'll be blamed on Marcus Rashford I bet. If he'd just let them starve over the holidays.

I'll say it again. Bastards

Im not sure people understand how pupil premium is used by schools so its probably not clear the full impact of this change.

It’s criminal, over 70% of our school receive FSM.

Utter bollocks and makes me so angry. The gap will be widening and widening.

Meanwhile Johnson is spending millions redecorating his home.

That's shit. Our kids school is majority FSM and has already weathered massive funding cuts due to the change in funding formula.

The Sutton Trust and the Education Endowment Foundation have called on the government to withdraw this change and properly fund the most disadvantaged pupils.

Gavin Williamson was asked about the cuts in parliament by the Shadow Education Secretary and told her to stop moaning.

That’s how much this government cares about disadvantaged kids. Too busy spaffing money up the wall on home furnishings.

twitter.com/suttontrust/status/1387653163126333440?s=21

God this is appalling. I’m totally unsurprised as this government would merrily restart workhouses with a snappier name whilst spending hundreds of thousands on undeclared expenses, but it never ceases to disgust me.

Even more depressing is that people on here don't seem to care.

They were all up in arms when it was pictures of crap food up for discussion, but when it's millions of pounds being denied these kids .... tumbleweed.

I care. I care a lot.

Our school kids get breakfast daily from a local charity.

We rely heavily on extra funding and run loads of interventions, which are so beneficial but will probably have to stop.

Nick Gibb was saying today that it was fine because pupil premium money to schools was increasing.

It's increasing because the number of kids on FSM is increasing due to a bloody pandemic. If they have excluded a whole load of kids from the funding increase due to the change in dates, then the funding per pupil will go down. Can Nick Gibb not figure out that might be a problem?

Bumping this to keep it on Page 1.

It’s bloody appalling. Children should not have to be worrying about food and schools should have enough money to be effective.
Staffing wise we are cut to the quick. If someone is off sick there’s a whole domino effect. We can’t afford teachers and we can’t afford to help our underprivileged children.
They are disgusting, sleazy liars.
And yet people keep voting them in.

They are absolute bastards and they have really snuck this one out. I hadn't heard anything about this before your post.

Bumping again and have linked it on the Boris Johnson is a liar type-thread on AIBU.

Twat.

@noblegiraffe

Nick Gibb was saying today that it was fine because pupil premium money to schools was increasing.

It's increasing because the number of kids on FSM is increasing due to a bloody pandemic. If they have excluded a whole load of kids from the funding increase due to the change in dates, then the funding per pupil will go down. Can Nick Gibb not figure out that might be a problem?

The absolute refusal to use per pupil figures frustrates me. All sorts of bollocks gets spouted - remember "record school funding" claims last year (or was it 2019?).

Boils my piss, as the saying goes.

I actually hadnt heard about this.
I'm disgusted but not at all surprised.
These are just innocent children not creating any revenue for the government so why would they care?
Noone is government is held accountable for anything so nothing will change. Boris could literally go and take the food off some childrens plate and people would applaud him

The tories have demonstrated countless times that they don’t give a shit about poor people in general, poor disabled people/poor people with children in particular. Why is anyone even surprised about this?

People still vote for them. People on this thread have probably voted for them. And this is the result.