Croydon Council has identified 728 additional children who are entitled to pupil premium funding, helping to provide valuable support for the borough’s young people. As a result, local primary and secondary schools will also benefit from nearly £1m in extra annual funding through the Government’s Pupil Premium Fund.
The Council successfully undertook a comprehensive data matching exercise to work out which children were eligible for extra funding but were not receiving it. This made sure that eligible children across Croydon – which is home to one of the largest population of under-19s across London – now have further support and educational opportunities.
Pupil Premium funding doesn’t just provide children with free school meals – it means they can also access Croydon’s Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme and will receive grocery vouchers during school holidays, as part of the Household Support Fund.
With all primary school pupils in London now receiving Universal Free School meals, making sure that schools have pupils registered for the extra benefits is more difficult. Thanks to this process, all families and schools have now been contacted and are already benefiting from the extra support.
As a result of this work, Croydon schools will receive £979,000 every year in additional Pupil Premium funding from the Department for Education. This funding supports disadvantaged pupils in education and will continue throughout their time in school.
“We are working to become more cost effective and efficient, putting residents at the heart of everything we do. It is very important to me that every young person in Croydon has the support they need to thrive. That starts with making sure every child who needs a free meal in school, can have one.
“Our approach means that more than 700 pupils are now receiving the extra help they are entitled to, with extra funding for Croydon schools.”
Jason Perry, Executive Mayor of Croydon
