£1300 to help every child get on in life

Dear Reader,

 

If you start behind in secondary school, you stay behind. That’s a sad reality for too many children entering our secondary schools today. I think it is unacceptable that primary schools are currently not challenged even if four in ten of their pupils leave without being ready for secondary school.

All children should get the education they deserve. That is why we are going to ask a lot more of our primary schools and over on Lib Dem Voice, David Laws has laid out what that will be. We inherited a situation where too many children don’t have the basic skills they need to flourish when they make that big step up into secondary school and we can’t let that continue.

We are not going to leave schools to do this without supporting them. To help with what we’re going to be asking of them I have announced a big boost for the Pupil Premium for primary school pupils to £1,300 per eligible child.

In the East of England, that will mean an extra £38m for primary schools to use in ways that they know work best for their pupils.

Currently, children from poorer backgrounds consistently get outperformed by their wealthier classmates when it comes to getting good GSCEs. The Pupil Premium is making a difference in schools to help these children. It also means we can ask schools to do more to prepare all children for the challenges that lie ahead.

We are giving a huge boost in the Pupil Premium to primary schools because all the evidence shows that the earlier you give extra support and help every child , the bigger a difference it makes. With more money, schools will be able to do more of the exciting things I heard about when I presented the Pupil Premium Awards together with the Times Education Supplement the other week. That was such an inspiring event: it showed the difference teachers are making with the help of our flagship initiative.

As Liberal Democrats, we have always believed in the power of education to make a difference, to allow people to reach their potential regardless of where they were born. That promise has not always been a reality. In Government, we are ensuring that in the future it will be a reality.

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