Pupil Equity Funding: national operational guidance 2023

Use of Pupil Equity Funding

How can it be used?

Although the funding is allocated to schools on the basis of free school meal registrations of pupils in P1-S3, headteachers and teachers have discretion to make decisions about which children and young people would benefit most from any particular intervention or approach, whilst keeping a clear focus on delivering equity through improving outcomes for learners impacted by poverty.

High quality early learning and childcare (ELC) can make a huge difference to children's lives and continuing readiness to learn, particularly when they are growing up in more disadvantaged circumstances. There is clear evidence that support in the earliest years is critical to ensuring all children have the chance to learn and develop. Pupil Equity Funding can therefore be used to provide support for a learner's transition between ELC settings – such as nurseries – and primary schools. For example, this support may be used to provide extra flexibility for induction events to ensure learners and families impacted by poverty, including those who access their ELC in private and third sector settings, are enabled to attend. Funding should not be used in ways that stigmatises children and young people or their parents and carers.

The funding should be focused on appropriately targeted resources, activities and approaches for learners impacted by poverty, and which will lead to improvements in literacy, numeracy and support health and wellbeing. Leadership; learning & teaching; and families and communities continue to be recognised as useful organisers to consider when determining interventions and approaches.

Headteachers can work at an individual school and local community level, which includes children and young people and their families, or collegiately in wider school clusters and beyond at local authority and regional improvement collaborative level to address common interests. Special schools may need to consider how they work across their school communities as children may attend their school from across the authority.

Consideration should be given to how the school can work with community partners beyond education to deliver proposed and collaboratively agreed aims and outcomes. Interventions and approaches should be considered within the context of the school improvement planning cycle and must be targeted towards closing the poverty-related attainment gap. Where appropriate, funding should build upon existing Scottish Attainment Challenge improvement plans, utilising the Framework for Recovery and Accelerating Progress.

Headteachers may also want to consider the mitigations and recommendations noted in the Equity Audit and Closing the poverty related attainment gap: A report on progress 2016-2021 which were published in 2021 and the Education Scotland publication Pupil Equity Funding: Looking inwards, outwards, forwards – sharing effective practice to maximise support for learners and practitioners which was published in 2022.

The three organisers of learning and teaching; leadership; and, families and communities should shape local approaches.

Headteachers should use their discretion when deciding which pupils will benefit from Pupil Equity Funding, as well as engaging with teachers, when deciding which approaches would have the most impact for children and young people impacted by poverty. The following five key indicators may be helpful and should be taken into consideration.

• Attainment and Achievement
• Attendance
• Inclusion
• Engagement
• Participation