Last week the Government confirmed details of the new funding formula for schools across the country as part of “historic” changes to the funding system.
OnTheWight shared details back at the end of last year of which schools on the Isle of Wight might be the winners or losers when the new funding formula is introduced. In March of this year, the Isle of Wight council called for greater autonomy on how to distribute the funding.
Seely: “Transparent and fair funding for our schools”
In response to the latest announcement, Isle of Wight Conservative MP, Bob Seely, said,
“This historic reform to an outdated and unfair way of funding education is welcome news and shows the Government is committed to better and fairer funded Island schools which will greatly benefit our children with millions of pounds in extra investment over the years to come.
“It is also the delivery of a manifesto pledge to allocate money to schools of the basis of their individual needs and characteristics with a minimum spend per pupil built in. In broad terms, it means all schools on the Island will benefit from increased funding by an average of 3.1% with some schools receiving significantly higher at nearly 6%.
“In addition to the amounts announced I will continue to campaign for Government to recognise the unique challenges on the Island to make sure that our schools get the support they need.
“Money is not the whole story in education, but transparent and fair funding for our schools, meeting the needs of the 21st century, is a step forward to achieving better standards on the Island and beyond and I look forward to its implementation in April 2018.
“This new funding formula follows an extra £1.3billion of funding for education across the country over the next two years on top of the existing budget.”
See BBC report on changes announced last week.
Image: swong95765 under CC BY 2.0
