How much does it cost to educate your child?

School uniform, proms, school trips and activity weeks - how expensive is it to send a child to school and how much does a family’s wealth affect a child’s education?

These are the questions a concerned group of Plymouth councillors will be asking during a four-month project that aims to investigate the impact of the Government’s Welfare Reform on a child’s education.

Plymouth City Council’s ‘Ambitious Plymouth’ group will meet next week, Tuesday 17 September, to begin work to look at the educational achievements of children in care and those eligible for free school meals, compared to other children in mainstream education to see whether their social position is a barrier to achievement.

The work will be known as ‘Narrowing the gap in schools co-operative review’ and will also examine what issues affect the performance of the children of Service families. It is being led by Councillor Sally Bowie, Chair of Ambitious Plymouth, which is made up of representatives from both political parties elected locally.

Councillor Bowie explains: “Sending a child to school can be very costly nowadays. As well as uniforms and lunch arrangements, parents must also pay out for things such as school trips, non-school uniform days and proms. It’s a financial burden that many simply cannot afford, particularly in light of the Government’s Welfare Reform, which is squeezing family finances to their limits.

“The question then follows, if parents cannot afford for their children to be involved in these extra activities, what impact does that have on them? Our review will examine educational attainment linked to different social groups to determine whether there is a problem and if so, how we can best tackle it as a city.”

One of the city’s key aims is to ‘narrow the gap’ between children from more deprived families and those from more affluent beginnings. This links closely with the early intervention and prevention work to address potential problems as soon as possible in a child’s life before they become bigger issues if left unchecked.

The government has launched the Pupil Premium - additional funding given to schools on the basis of the numbers of children entitled to and registered for free school meals - in order to help support children from families under the greatest financial pressure. Schools can support their disadvantaged pupils and close the attainment gap between them and their peers. The Pupil Premium is rising to £1.875 billion in 2013-14, with schools attracting £900 per disadvantaged child.

But Councillor Nicky Williams, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, is critical of the government's welfare reform: “The gap between those who have and those who have not seems to be getting bigger. The Government’s welfare reform and other policy decisions seem only to be making the situation worse so I’m really glad our Co-operative Scrutiny is tackling this thorny issue. It’s clear we need a local perspective and solution.

“We want to understand the impact on performance of not eating a good meal, not being warm enough or not having somewhere to do your homework. Also what kind of financial pressure are parents under to ensure their child fits-in through expensive extra-curricular activities, such as proms and school trips. We need to understand how we can best ensure a family’s social standing does not dictate a child’s chances of success in life.”

The review will hear from a number of expert witnesses and receive evidence including: free schools meals statistics for eligibility and take-up, pupil attainment according to different social groups and pupil premium funding and spending. The Panel will also visit two city schools to talk to pupils and understand their views.

A report detailing the findings and recommendations will be presented at the Panel in December 2013 and is expected to go to Cabinet for agreement in the New Year.

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