RAISE programme to benefit 614 schools across Wales

The programme, to be known as RAISE (Raising Attainment and Individual Standards in Education in Wales), will target disadvantaged pupils and seek to raise their levels of performance.

In its first year (2006/07) RAISE will be funded to the tune of £16m:  £13m is new money coming to Wales as the result of the recent UK Budget statement and the remainder is funding available in the approved Assembly budget for 2006-07.

RAISE will target the links between disadvantage and educational attainment amongst pupils in Wales. Its ambition will be to ensure that all our young people, whatever their situation and circumstances, are afforded the best opportunities and support that our education and training system can provide.

In 2006/07 the £16m available for the RAISE programme will be used to provide funding:

• for disadvantaged pupils in schools where 20% or more of those pupils are eligible for free school meals (excluding schools with fewer than 50 pupils);
• for learning support for looked after children.
  

The allocations for schools will amount to £14.4m and will be distributed by reference to numbers of pupils eligible for free school meals. A provisional summary by local authority is attached as well as a provisional list of secondary, special and primary schools and amounts for each.  

Schools will be required to target the funding on supporting pupils who are disadvantaged and most at risk of leaving school with no qualifications, including groups of pupils seen as under attaining.  It will need to be focused on giving them the help they need to get the best out of their education. The funding will therefore be available to provide additional support in the classroom; to withdraw pupils from the classroom for activities focused on literacy, numeracy or other aspects of learning; to provide out of hours activities; to develop home–school links; to draw in community support; to develop collaboration with FE institutions or other partners; to address behaviour or discipline issues.  Guidance will be issued as part of the grant conditions.

Schools receiving the funding will need to demonstrate to their local education authority that the funding – which will continue in 2007-08 – is being used to drive significant change for disadvantaged pupils; and will need to agree the pupil outcomes they are seeking.

Local authorities will need to ensure that use of the funding draws on established good practice in school improvement, is consistent with individual school improvement plans and, in the case of secondary schools, fits with the plans of the local 14-19 partnership.  For primary schools authorities will be asked to bring individual schools together into groups wherever possible so that use of shares of funding can be maximised for the benefit of the targeted groups of pupils in those schools.  

An element of the overall £16m funding will be used to resource a small number of school improvement professionals to work with local authorities and support schools in receipt of the new funding; and to run the programme and evaluate it.

Each local authority will receive a share of £1m to support the learning of looked after pupils - probably allocated by reference to the number of pupils in its care.  The funding is intended to enable authorities to support these children and young people – particularly those in years 10 and 11 – so as to enable them to move on to further and higher education or to work-based learning.  

The arrangements for allocation and use of the funding are subject to consultation with the Welsh Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Education in Wales.  The intention is to notify local authorities of final allocations for individual schools in time for the start of the summer term.  The grant will be paid under section 14 of the Education Act 2002.  Schools will need to have their grant funded initiatives agreed with their local authority and in place for September, if not before.  

RAISE will also draw together aspects of the following existing Welsh Assembly Government initiatives:

• Flying Start
• Foundation Phase;
• Children and Young People’s Framework Partnerships;
• pupil transition from primary to secondary school;
• development of Community Focused Schools;
• 14-19 Learning Pathways;
• Extending Entitlement;
• school/LEA partnership agreements.

Taken together RAISE and these associated initiatives will comprise a major element of ‘The Learning Country’ programme. With other major strategies such as  Flying Start, the Foundation Phase and 14-19 Learning Pathways, it will seek to make a major contribution to further transforming the nature of educational provision and attainment in Wales, particularly for those pupils who are disaffected from education and in danger of achieving few or no qualifications.

Notes for Information

Provisional distributions have been calculated on the following basis:

Total of £14.4m has been split for primary & special / secondary school sectors according to proportion of pupils eligible for Free School Meals (FSM pupils) in each sector in 2005.

Eligible schools have been identified by excluding those due for closure at the end of academic year 2005/06, those with fewer than 50 pupils on roll at January 2005 (because of their eligibility for small and rural schools grant) and schools with less than 20% of pupils eligible for FSM.

FSM calculations have been done:

• For primary and special schools based on January 2005 PLASC data (3 year data is not available for all of these schools).
• For secondary schools based on 3 years data (2003/04/05 PLASC) to take account of fluctuations in eligibility and pupil numbers.
• Counting pupils of compulsory school age only.
  (January 2005 PLASC data is the most recent complete, validated data set available.)

Grant is distributed to eligible schools on basis of:

For each qualifying primary school an allocation of £10,000
For each qualifying special school an allocation of £15,000
For each qualifying secondary school an allocation of £25,000

Primary and special schools receive a further amount based on shares of  FSM pupils as at January 2005.

Secondary schools  receive a further amount based on FSM pupils on roll (2003/04/05)  weighted as follows
FSM 40% or above - FSM pupils x 2
FSM 30% to 39.99% - FSM pupils x 1.5
FSM 20% to 29.99% - FSM pupils x 1