Schools participating in the new programme are eligible to receive a range of additional supports to be targeted at disadvantaged pupils. The additional supports to be provided reflect the level of concentration of pupils from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds in each school invited to participate in the programme.
The school in question is included in the rural dimension of the programme and is eligible to receive supplementary grant aid of £1,911 towards the provision of suitable educational supports for the pupils concerned. To assist schools in making the best use of the extra resources, I am appointing a director of programmes to tackle disadvantage, assisted by a support team. This team will provide training in the understanding of educational disadvantage and the delivery of targeted supports.
Schools invited to participate in the new programme were identified through a survey of educational disadvantage in primary schools carried out by the Educational Research Centre for my Department last year. Where individual schools are concerned about the outcome of the survey in respect of their school, they may make a submission to my Department outlining their circumstances. These submissions will be referred to the ERC for consideration. The situation of these schools will then be considered further.
With regard to the issue of resource teachers, the school in question has been allocated ten hours part-time resource support to cater for the educational needs of four pupils enrolled in the school. The school has a remedial teaching post, which it shares with three other local schools. The needs of the pupils in the school in question will be fully considered in the event of additional resources becoming available to improve existing remedial teaching services.
