Does anyone have any information about "Pupil Premium"? I know that children whose parents are on a low income/benefits and/or qualify for free school meals are encouraged to sign up for this through school. As far as I know schools are then allocated a certain amount of funding for each child they have who qualifies for this and everyone who may meet the criteria are generally encouraged by schools to fill out the form, because then the school gets more funding. As far as I can tell it is up to the school to use their discretion to decide how these funds are put to good use. When my son was at primary school, the headmaster there was very forthcoming and used the Pupil Premium to subsidise the cost of school trips, extra curricular music lessons and even transport to school for families who were struggling. The ethos seemed very much to be that the money be used to ensure that no child should miss out on anything because their parents were unable to afford to pay for it. As a result my son was lucky enough to take part in residential trips and piano lessons which at the time I would not have been able to pay for myself. A single mum of 4 who's children are now in my son's class at secondary school is struggling financially, mainly because the bus fares to get her children to school are costing £75 per week (cost of children's' bus fares - Stagecoach - thats another issue, don't get me started). The point is £75 a week in bus fare is nearly half of her weekly income, and its not a huge distance they are travelling (within Exeter). She is desperate to get some help to cover this cost but, as far as I know, has been turned down by Devon County Council. Could/should the school offer some assistance by utilising some of the Pupil Premium that her 4 children all qualify for? Any advice gratefully received.