Pupils: Poverty

(asked on 15th May 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the NAHT survey entitled Embarrassed and Ashamed - The Impact of Austerity on England’s schoolchildren; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
Nadhim Zahawi Portrait
Nadhim Zahawi
This question was answered on 22nd May 2019

Tackling poverty will always be a priority for the government. We have lifted 400,000 people out of absolute poverty since 2010 and income inequality has fallen.

While schools alone cannot solve the challenges faced by many disadvantaged families at home, they can address barriers to learning when a child is at school. We support the provision of nutritious food in schools. This ensures pupils are well nourished, develop healthy eating habits and can concentrate and learn. The department provides free school meals support to 1.1 million of the most disadvantaged pupils. This saves families hundreds of pounds each year.

The pupil premium has provided school leaders with more than £15.6 billion since 2011 to focus on support for disadvantaged pupils. We expect to spend another £2.4 billion this year. School leaders are free to use this additional grant in any way they choose to benefit their pupils. We know that schools sometimes use the funding to help put their disadvantaged pupils in a receptive state of mind to learn by providing breakfast, items of school uniform, equipment, emotional support, and homework clubs. This enables every child to realise their potential.

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