- Education are considering giving more money to schools with disadvantaged pupils
- Pupil premium scheme is similar to UK initiative
- JEP comment: This is ‘positive politics which will bring the Island together’
- Are pupil premiums a good idea? Take part in our poll below
SCHOOLS could be given more money to help raise the achievements of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds under a funding overhaul being considered by the Education Department.
Deputy Rod Bryans said that his department is developing a version of the UK-style pupil premium – a scheme that has been credited with dramatically improving the GCSE results of secondaries with pupils from less affluent backgrounds.
In the UK, state-funded secondaries receive an extra £935 per year for every pupil who is eligible for free school meals.
Although Deputy Bryans has yet to announce the specifics of the scheme, he says that it will have a ‘different flavour’ to the UK system and that it will take a ‘sizeable slice’ of his department’s bid for extra money.
The move has received the backing of the NASUWT – Jersey’s largest teaching union – and it follows calls from the head teachers of two of the Island’s four 11-16 schools – Phil Slater, the head of Le Rocquier, and Dave Roworth, the head of Haute Vallée – both of whom said that the scheme is needed to help improve GCSE results and literacy levels.
And according to the minister, the initiative has already been reviewed by Scrutiny and is due to be assessed by the Treasury before being taken to the Council of Ministers.
‘It’s in our budget and we’ve had Scrutiny overview it,’ Deputy Bryans said.
‘What we wanted to do is take the concept and to look about how we apply it. It’s UK centric, but we want to make sure that it has a different flavour – for us it’s redressing the balance in some areas that we need to put more funding into States schools. A concept of pupil premium is the way to do it.’
The minister explained that he wanted the scheme to be centred on the principle of autonomy – which together with families, standards and curriculum, are the department’s four key initiatives.
‘What we have planned is aligned to the autonomy of the schools. The schools themselves will say we have a set of criteria, this is what we need and there will be pupil premium to back that up.
‘What we are trying to do with autonomy is give them the ability to choose where they spend the budget, because every school is unique and head teachers are in the best position to know the needs of their school.’
Marina Mauger, the Island’s NASUWT representative, said: ‘I welcome the positive steps made by the Education Department in introducing the pupil premium in Jersey – it has been very successful in raising the standard of achievement in the UK.’
Meanwhile, the minister also told the JEP that the Education Department was looking into several alternatives to funding higher education, which would not involve a student loan system.
‘I would love every student to have the opportunity to access the best education they can wherever it may be. The pressures on parents and students is quite large and we are trying to find a much more pragmatic way to get as many students through – a way in which we don’t rack them with loans they will never re-pay or carry around like a big sea anchor.’
However, the Deputy said he was not in a position to disclose the specifics.
‘The point we are at now is that we have come up with two or three ideas. We’ve gone out to the banks, not in the context of a loan system, in the context of what we are trying to achieve, and we have received good support,’ he said.
WHAT are the criteria for a happy, healthy community?
For good reason, it is often said that Jersey is a fantastic place to live. A wonderful natural environment, a strong economy which provides well-paid jobs, good schools, a low crime rate, low unemployment and much more besides are all ingredients which make our Island lifestyle so enviable.
And yet there is a feeling that, amid all this wealth, the spoils of success are not being shared fairly between the haves and have-nots.
At election time, a number of those who would become Senator Ian Gorst’s Council of Ministers talked about the need to be economically prudent and business-focussed on one hand, and socially progressive, caring and liberal on the other.
That middle ground is exactly where they should be. Jersey needs a fiscally responsible government that believes in fairness and opportunity for all.
In 2011, a new generation of politicians was elected to the States who have helped to push the social agenda. Many are now ministers. Under Senator Gorst’s leadership, their voices are now being heard.
Today, Deputy Rod Bryans, a member of the class of 2011, announced that he would like to introduce a scheme similar to the UK’s pupil premium initiative, which ensures that schools receive extra funding to help poorer students reach their potential.
It is this sort of positive politics which will bring the Island together and foster a real sense of inclusive community.
Deputy Bryans is also working on a way to make higher education more affordable, perhaps with student loans.
With legislation on family-friendly working coming into force later this year, and with free child care and redundancy pay already on the statute books, politicians are starting to find the right balance.
For some, the pace of change is too slow. A few weeks ago, a proposition by Deputy Geoff Southern to increase the the length of statutory maternity leave from 18 weeks to 26 was defeated.
In an Island with so many small businesses and with a huge deficit looming in public finances, now is not the time for radical change which could upset a delicate economic recovery.
The answer is not to create a hand-out culture, but one which enables and encourages all to reach their potential and live happy, healthy and fulfilled lives.
