Darllenwch y dudalen hon yn Gymraeg
The Pupil Development Grant (PDG) is a key enabler for tackling the impact of poverty on educational attainment and ensuring our national mission of high standards and aspirations for all.
Welsh Government guidance recommends schools and settings focus their spend on eight key areas which are of most benefit to children from low-income households.
Estyn highlight that effective schools reduce the impact of poverty by focusing on:
- ensuring all pupils, especially those experiencing poverty, have access to the very best learning and teaching, and by
- building relationships with ‘parents, the local community and specialist services to meet the needs of pupils and their families’ – the key tenets of Community Focused Schools.
Case studies
New video case studies show how PDG is being used to best support children and young people across Wales. The schools include Ysgol Plasmawr, Ysgol Borthyn, Ysgol Nant Caerau, Awel y Môr Primary School, Bridgend College, Craigfelen Primary School, Idris Davies School, Llandeilo Primary School and Parc Primary School.
From supporting high quality learning and teaching to engaging with families and raising aspirations, education practitioners in early years, primary and secondary schools and settings share how they plan and spend PDG to support the progression and wellbeing of learners impacted by poverty.
David Williams, headteacher of Parc Primary School in Treorchy, said:
“We’ve got around 65% of our children who are classed as vulnerable, so the PDG has really transformed how we support our vulnerable families and our low-income families. What it allows us to do is ensure there is equity for all our stakeholders; the pupils, the parents and carers of the school, the wider community.
“We’re very passionate and proud here about the opportunities we give the children and the parents. The children engage in a wide range of activities. They’re learning about the fire triangle, they’re growing and cultivating their own crops, they’re looking at the weather. There is plenty of evidence already of the impact.”
EEF Toolkits
The EEF Toolkits are another free to access resource for schools providing a evidence-based source of methods to improve learning for disadvantaged pupils.
Spread the word
When parents and carers register as eligible for free school meals with their Local Authority, this unlocks access to the School Essentials Grant. It also means schools get more funding.
With the introduction of free school meals for primary pupils, many parents and carers do not realise that schools will lose out unless they continue to register as eligible.
So spread the word by sharing: https://www.gov.wales/get-help-school-costs
Even if they don’t need the grant, registering as eligible will mean schools get additional funding.