Pupil Premium is extra funding that is given to schools by the government to help disadvantaged children and those living in poverty that attend both primary and secondary schools.

Schools receive Pupil Premiums for pupils that claim free school meals. It is currently paid at £935 per child for secondary school pupils and £1320 per child for primary school pupils.

According to data submitted last January there were 1.44 million pupils registered to receive free school meals therefore enabling schools to receive this essential funding for their pupils.

By October 2020 the number of children claiming free school meals had risen to over 1.6 million which is already an extra 200,000 children living below the Universal Credit threshold resulting in them being entitled to free school meals.

As a result of the pandemic and despite the governments furlough schemes the e number of people claiming Universal credit has increased dramatically, which has resulted in the amount of children needing to access free school meals drastically.

These numbers are set to rise due to more parents becoming newly unemployed and the eight week wait for Universal Credit claims to be processed.

On December the 17th, the government made changes to their data collection. It was announced that the government would calculate pupil premiums for schools using the October census and not the January census.

This means that any pupil that became eligible for free school meals after the first week of October 2020 would not receive any Pupil Premium funding until they appear on the census next October. Previously these payments would have started in January.

If free school meals eligibility continues to rise as it has been predicted to this could mean that up to 200,000 pupils will miss out on the pupil premium for a whole school year.

This will potentially put schools at risk of loosing around £250,000,000 in extra funding that schools would have received from pupil premiums..

This will inevitably hit the most deprived communities and schools the hardest. Many depend upon the pupil premium funding to fund school activities and other school activities for their children.

Meanwhile the government argued that “The move to the October census simplifies the school funding system, and provide both schools and the Department with greater certainty around future funding levels earlier in the year”

Meanwhile the government continues to use January data for alternative provision schools.

Call me cynical but this appears to be a move to suppress Pupil Premium spending during a period when it is needed the most. The government clearly hasn’t taken the pandemic and the rising unemployment and poverty that is drastically increasing every day.

The government imposed these changes just before schools closed for the Christmas holidays. No notice was given to schools from the Department Of Education so therefore there has been no opportunity for schools to budget for these changes.

Schools are already struggling to find the funding for school activities and even much needed equipment.

The fact that the government has chosen effectively take away £1/4 billion in funding when poverty is rising whilst in the midst of a pandemic demonstrates is despicable. Their lack of care about our children’s education is all too clear.

Whilst the government talks about their ‘concerns’ about children’s education, and their rush to re open schools fully, they openly take away the funding that is needed for schools to do this.

The poorest children and schools will be hit the hardest by these changes and it is obscene that the government has done this when this essential funding is needed the most.

Sources;

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium/pupil-premium

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I was pondering on how long my Covid and Long Covid journey has been, it’s completely crazy that in April it will be my year anniversary of first becoming ill with it.

I wish that I could say that it’s been easy, that I felt looked after by the government and we both received the emotional support that we needed. However I can’t because they didn’t.

Lets start with following government advice that left me not receiving the medical help that I needed. Back then the advice given was to stay at home and phone 111 for advice. I did this and the phone operators over at 111 didn’t have a clue what to do with me.

Looking back I should have gone to the hospital but I didn’t because I was told to stay at home and coupled with the fact that I didn’t want to infect anyone and I had no one to care for my daughter left me stuck in bed at home.

Whilst I was in bed unable to get up and take care of my daughter she was sat downstairs worrying about my health and praying that I would get well again. She brought me drinks, checked if I was ok and she became my nurse.

Sadly I developed pneumonia and pleurisy as a result of having Covid 19 and I had to see a doctor. I had no choice, I was really struggling. I was given an appointment at my local covid clinic where they diagnosed me and started me on my first course of antibiotics.

I should have gone to the hospital in the first place.

I can’t remember how many courses of antibiotics to treat the above that I have taken. It took a long time to shift and resulted in me being admitted into hospital at last because I should have gone there in the first place. I didn’t because I was following government advice.

Whist I’m a lot better than I was, I’m still struggling with fatigue and breathlessness but I’ve come a long way from where I was. Because my daughter is doing her school work at home she isn’t bringing any viruses home with her. Before this I’m sure that I was rebounding because she was bringing said viruses home with her.

Being a single parent isn’t easy when you’re well and its even harder when you’re not well with a highly contagious virus. No one is allowed anyone to come and help you either because you’re contagious. Everything is a struggle and you have to put a brave face on for your children because you don’t want to worry them.

No one is talking about this and I think that the public assume that support is out there and no one is left on their own. I often wonder how many people and single parents have died as a result of becoming ill with Covid 19, forced to stay at home and unable to go to the hospital because there was no one to look after their children.

Government ‘advice’ has always been poor, thats if you can call it advice in the first place. It was more like lets ignore everyone thats ill because we have to ensure that the economy comes first. We only have to see how long it took the government to shut the schools, even though they’re still not fully shut.

To evidence this you only have to look at the supposed government press conferences to see this. They’ve never given up on their herd immunity plans. Thousands of people have died and will continue to die as a result of their incompetence.

Every day people are dying and the public are becoming normalised to it. The government certainly doesn’t care so why should we many would say.

Personally the deaths of thousands of people never leaves my thoughts. It could have been so different if we had followed New Zealand’s example. Thousands of people wouldn’t have died and the economy would be on its way to returning back to normal.

Meanwhile I’ve got to do everything in my power to get well again, to awaken my brain from its slumber and to free it of the brain fog thats been plaguing me for months.

Yesterday I set myself the task of tidying my bedroom. This is the room where I spent most of my time so I had to tackle it and make it nice again. I did my best and its much better but not perfect. I’m not expecting perfection but it’s frustrating that I’ve not been able to do this before. Still, I was proud of myself for doing it.

When you’re recovering from an illness like this it’s important to set yourself little goals not massive ones. If you fail to do this then it results in disappointment.

I do realise that I’m so lucky to have survived but I won’t stop telling people about the truth about our situations. You can feel grateful and campaign for the rights of others at the same time.

My heart goes out to everyone that has died, to their families, friends and work colleagues. It must be extremely hard to be grieving whilst themselves trying to stay safe.

My thoughts got to every single person forced to work through the pandemic, putting their life’s at risk everyday.

Financially the government has knowingly left so many people in poverty that many haven’t experienced before. Applying for Universal Credit isn’t easy and its obscene that the government hasn’t scrapped the five week waiting time for a claim to be processed. They love to make people suffer.

I won’t apologise for writing about this again because it has changed my life as it has for thousands of other people. We can get through this and one day we will be able to return to ‘normal’ whatever that means for us.

I’ll end it here but please read, share, tweet and email my blog. This does make a difference and it means the world to me.

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Financially Covid 19 has destroyed me. I can’t just go to the shops because most days I’m not up to it and I’m also scared of becoming ill again. Every penny helps.

A massive thank you to everyone that has helped my blog and campaign. Xxx.

This week has been fairly interesting not only for me but for so many of you. As the government quite rightly is vaccinating the most vulnerable people theres still a lot of shit being thrown at the poorest and most vulnerable.

We said goodbye to Captain Tom and quite rightly theres been lots of publicity surrounding his death. Captain Tom should never have become a public name in the first place. The NHS should be properly funded by the government . So whilst Captain Tom was doing laps around his garden and raising money for NHS support services, the government was clapping him on knowing that this would detract from their wrongdoings.

Captain Tom starting fund raising for all of the right reasons , and I’d like to thank him for doing so. Meanwhile the government saw it as an opportunity to distract people from their faults, . The NHS and NHS support services will continue to be massively underfunded which during a pandemic is a dangerous thing to do.

The government never misses an opportunity to jump on charitable acts and deeds especially if the money raised will help to fund an area that they’re failing to fund correctly. Take for example food banks, the Tories like to turn up for photo shoots when a new foodbank is opening whilst ignoring the fact that we shouldn’t need to have foodbanks in the first place.

It also never fails to amaze me how quickly they are to turn up for these photo shoots outside foodbanks etc. They really like to rub peoples noses in it and they certainly don’t care about people being hungry. Neither do they care about elderly people fundraising for the NHS support services. It takes the onus off them to be a responsible government and fund these services themselves.

There’s nothing that the government likes more than deflection. One minute they’re praising the charities for helping people, the next they’re calling disabled and vulnerable people as ‘useless eaters’, whilst at the same time constantly attacking them through the lack of funding for essential services that they need. Lets not forget that they and the DWP are constantly punishing them through the evil DWP system, making them attend DWP ‘medicals’ etc.

Disabled and ill people are put under more scrutiny than any other social group. Their every movement is judged both by the government and by members of the public that believe the right wing benefit scrounger rhetoric. Every day is a battle for so many, a battle that they shouldn’t have to fight.

Whilst the government called upon the public to clap for Captain Tom, they failed to address the over 100,000 people that have died after contracting Covid 19. They also failed to address the thousand of people that have died as a result of the governments pernicious and punishing social security system.

I see it like this, everyone that has died as a result of Covid 19 is worthy of a memorial and a day of remembrance. The government won’t keep them in their thoughts. The nation is in mourning over the loss of loved ones, friends and colleagues. Where’s the publicity about their life’s? Meanwhile the government is busily scrambling to hide the mortality rates surrounding this awful virus.

Every day NHS staff are being abused by members of the public because they’re caring for people suffering with Covid 19. Where was the governments opposition to all the Covid deniers and conspiracy theorists? I can’t believe that I still have to tell people that Covid 19 is not like the flu, and it presents itself very differently.

No one deserves to be abused in this way for doing their jobs, it’s bloody wrong. The government have done a fantastic job dividing and conquering people. They’ve destroyed communities, stripped local authorities of essential services and are responsible for the deaths of thousands of people.

I can and will never forget the thousands of deaths that they’re directly responsible for. The only way that we can get through this is by being there for each other albeit in a socially distanced way. Our campaigns haven’t stopped, we have had to adapt to the pandemic.

Flag waving doesn’t solve anything either. if anything it antagonises people. Whilst the opposition should be points ahead of the Tory Party they’re lagging behind with no clear plan. Put the flags away and start opposing, its what the public need them to do.

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone that has lost a loved one either through Covid 19 or otherwise. Their life’s were and are important and we must never let the government forget this.

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A huge thank you to everyone that has and does support my blog and campaign. I really couldn’t do this without you.

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This year has already set off to be a bad one for so many of us. For many people like myself suffering with Long covid are fast approaching our year anniversary since first becoming ill with Covid 19.

There’s still a perception by many that if you become ill with Covid 19 that in a week or so you’ll be better and ready to face the world agin.

The truth is that it isn’t as simple as this, even a mild case can make you extremely unwell, forcing you to feel guilty for being ill and you don’t want to complain too much because friends can get sick of hearing about it.

So many covid and long covid sufferers are forced back to work before they’re ready. This is often because of pressure to return put on them from their employers, and financially they’re not able to stay at home and recover.

The pandemic has highlighted the gap between the haves and have nots and the economic inequalities are very clear to see. For someone with no financial worries they’re able to stay home and spend their time at home starting hobbies and being able to have good quality shopping delivered to them.

Low income workers are most likely to have to go into work despite lockdowns because they can’t afford to stay at home and isolate. The relief packages that the government are inadequate and many still cant access these because they’re excluded from doing so.

The government has failed to support the poorest and most vulnerable throughout the pandemic. The extra £20 that they offered to universal credit and working tax credit claimants was and most likely wont be extended to people that desperately need the top up. Whilst £20 a week is still extremely low its helping people enormously. It’s been the difference in being able to buy some gas and electric, pay a bill, buy some food or put credit on their mobile phones.

They’ve also systematically failed to protect the nation especially the poor and disabled. They’ve entered lockdowns far too late with lockdown rules being complicated and unclear. They’ve also instructed the public to come out of lockdown far too early ensuring the spread of the pandemic.

Lets be clear, decision to lift restrictions isn’t because the government believes its safe to do so, its driven for financial reasons. The economy must come first at all costs despite the thousands of people that are still dying.

The decision to reopen schools isn’t because they believe its safe to do so either, its because they want parents to return to work even though its not safe.

Schools aren’t safe places despite the government still trying to say that they are. Teaching staff and school staff are dying because they have to go into work to teach children. It’s a huge misconception that all schools are shut. They aren’t and never have been.

The truth is that the UK was already in poor health before the pandemic arrived. Adults and children were and still are hungry, many are forced to live in poor quality housing that does nothing to benefit the health of the tenant.

Homeless people were and are still forced to sofa surf, become street homeless or having to live in hostels that are often dangerous and impossible to keep covid safe. The pandemic didn’t end these problems instead its exacerbated it.

Disadvantaged children are also suffering. Many parents and children are still going hungry despite the offer of free school meals in term time. The government is still determined to take their free meals away from them in the February half term. It’s shocking that they want to take food away from children, but its the Tory way and they’ve got a track record for doing so.

Unemployment levels are rising every day and the DWP and government are still determined that claimants should be actively seeking work and fulfilling their job search commitments. This is hard enough without the pandemic but the government never fails to miss an opportunity to punish the poor. After all they still think that its ok to sanction people in the midst of a pandemic.

This week Tory MP Therese Coffey the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions declared that the public are to blame for becoming ill with Covid 19, stating that we are all overweight and unhealthy. To blame the public for this is preposterous. It’s impossible for many to go shopping to buy the best foods for many reasons including food bank dependence and not enough money to do so. People eat what they can afford to, thats quick to cook because they’re living in fuel poverty.

The real blame lies at the feet of the government. They’ve totally failed to protect the public, putting their needs over that of the nations safety. The government has consistently failed to declare lockdowns early enough and the lockdowns that are declared are inadequate. Also forcing the public out of lockdowns too early because commerce is more important to them than safety.

Whilst many are living in psychological distress, the government appears to be continuing with their inadequate plans without a care for the nation. We need an independent public inquiry into the governments failing to protect the public.

We deserve to be treated much better than this. Whilst the government fails to put any importance to a persons life, many of us do. We need to take collective action and lead the way forward, supporting each other because the government will never take responsibility for this.

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I feel like my brain is working a tad better now, and hopefully the awful Covid fog is leaving. I appreciate your kindness and patience throughout my covid journey.

As for me I’m plodding on, trying to raise awareness and helping others.

For anyone that would like to donate or buy me a coffee theres a donate button at the side and bottom of this blog. I really do appreciate it and every penny goes into helping others.

I have a goal this week of being able to order a Morrisons food box for a family that’s struggling. Some fresh food would do them the world of good.

Thank you and please keep safe xxx

Well its Thursday again and I’m here hoping that with the departure of Trump will start to heal the wounds that he blatantly opened.

Prime Minister Johnson regarded him as being positive, a good thing. I really hope that his departure also eventually sees the end of the confidence that Johnson had regarding him and maybe his departure.

The inauguration was so uplifting, and seeing Kamala Harris take her oath as the Vice President of the United States was amazing to see. Well done to her, she’s so inspiring for so many women.

Now I’m not so naive to think that America will change overnight, it won’t and nor will they be perfect. It is now clear that we now have a lesser evil in charge and a president that appears to want to right the wrongs of the Trump era.

The memorial that they held for everyone that have died as a result of the pandemic was poignant and the right thing to do. There’s no way that the uk government would do this, most likely because they want the public to forget about the deaths and the suffering.

Today I woke up to the news that Gavin Williamson wants schools to reopen as quickly as possible, stating that they’re safe places when they’re clearly not.

It’s impossible to social distance children in an effective way because classrooms are full and they aren’t designed for children to social distance in. Also the government so far haven’t offered schools any help or funding to do so.

Before schools reopen the government needs to vaccinate teachers and teaching staff has been made from the government to teachers and teachers.

So many teachers and teaching staff have died from Covid 19 that they caught in the schools that they worked at. No mention of this is ever given by the government and the uk press either.

Here’s an article that I wrote about this earlier this week https://universalcreditsuffer.com/2021/01/19/is-the-government-doing-enough-to-make-schools-covid-safe/

As a parent and a Long Covid sufferer I’m extremely concerned that Gavin Williamson once again wants schools to fully re open far too early. It’s also very telling that he cares not one bit about the welfare of our teachers, teaching staff and children.

Lets also not forget about family members that will catch Covid 19 from their children. It’s a disaster waiting to happen.

Meanwhile whilst we won the battle to keep the £20 uplift for Universal Credit and Working Tax credits, the victory isnt legally bound. Johnson wont commit to extending it either so we really need to continue to keep the pressure on the government to extend the uplift.

Calls have already been made for both Boris Johnsons and Gavin Williamson’s resignations because of their shambolic handling of the pandemic. Un surprisingly the opposition haven’t spoken out about this. That’s shocking in itself.

Apparently Matt Hancock has been told to self isolate, and I’m sure that many are happy about this. No more Mr Creepy interviews for a wile. My question is will his staff that have been near him be self isolating also? No mention has been made of this.

As a parent and as someone that has had Covid 19 and now long covid, I can truly say how lucky I am to have survived this virus. I also know how ill it makes you even when you have a mild dose.

Keep safe everyone.

The government on the other hand are relying quite wrongly that the vaccination is the answer to eliminating the virus. It isn’t. The only way to eliminate the virus is to isolate, have the vaccination, stay at home, isolate and then wait for the second dose. The governments shambolic handling of the pandemic is very telling.

How am I doing?

I’m ok, plodding on but I had a three day migraine which hope is lifting now. I responded well to the latest course of antibiotics so everything crossed that I don’t need any again for a long while.

I’m also trying to wake my brain up after its long slumber. The brain fog can be awful but I’m doing everything that I can to fully wake it up again.

Right now I’m grateful to be alive albeit in reduced circumstances.

Please look after yourselves because you’re all important and you are loved.

Please read, share, tweet and email my blog.

A huge thank you to everyone that supports my blog and campaign it really does mean the world to me.

I don’t get any funding for writing my blog and also for the campaign. It’s a struggle but I’ll never give up the good fight.

For anyone that would like to donate theres a donate button at the top and side of this blog.