This school has been using Pupil Equity Funding (PEF) to subsidise trips so that everyone can attend.
“PEF is used to subsidise trips and heavily subsidise residential trips for those who cannot afford to send their children. If parents are unable to pay for days out - which are also heavily subsidised - by using Parent Pay then that is accepted and we choose not to make to make a fuss about this. Each class has £1000 PEF money and they can use this to cover costs of any trips so that every child can learn on trips and relate this back to what they are learning in school. PEF paid for all kids to go to the pantomime, something that many could not otherwise afford. All benefited from the trip and noone had to stay at home.”
Staff at Logans Primary School say that PEF is making a difference when it comes to trips.
“PEF has helped us pay for trips for our P7s to Strathclyde Park, with no costs for families. This means that the children can take part in activities over a period of 5 days and these include cycling, orienteering, archery and team building exercises. School trips are either fully paid by the school or are heavily subsidised by the school and for any parent struggling to pay for their child to attend a trip, then this would be paid by the school.”
A Principal Teacher of a primary school in Edinburgh is ensuring that the costs of school trips are free by accessing charitable funds alongside PEF.
“We've accessed money from a charitable organisation and we used this to provide outings to the zoo and an adventure park. No costs were associated with this and this meant that all children could attend and noone was left behind or did not attend school that day. This was a shared experience that gave the children the chance to do something different, something that many families could not have afforded to do with their children. It was a shared experience to continue to focus on after the event. We have also accessed charitable funds to ensure that all of clubs are free, like dance and literacy, and we seek to use these to help address the attainment gap.”
Beith Primary School works hard to find funding and materials for school projects from outside sources, such as local businesses, supermarkets and donations from the community, so that they don’t have to ask families for cash.
Head Teacher Fiona Dunop says that when the school does ask families for money:
“We always predicate anything with the thing that it’s a donation we’re looking for. We used to do dress down days for a £1, but actually we’ve taken that away now and we’re doing fundraising for specific things. Then it’s obviously a donation.”
Fiona describes how the school tries not to fundraise generally but still does small things for specific events, where the money will allow a whole class to do something.
“My primary fives are planning their Harry Potter trip to London because they were studying the book and they were really interested. So they’d come up with lots of little ideas that they’ve all worked together with local businesses to gather money to subsidise that, so that now it’s a free trip, nobody has to pay. That’s because of the efforts of the teachers, Parent Council and the parents and families that have supported that. We still want our children to value the experiences that they get, but not value them because of the cost of them but value them for what they are, for the educational experience that they have, and I think our parents appreciate that.”
Find out what else schools have been spending PEF on.
