Poorest pupils get free school trips

Reporter: KAREN DOHERTY
Date online: 09/02/2010

OLDHAM’S poorest pupils will receive £1.1 million to take part in after-school clubs and trips.

The money will pay for children whose families cannot afford extra-curricular activities.

The borough will receive £1,116,975 of Government funding through Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) with £25 million going to the North-West as a whole.

Breeze Hill School has already run a £25,000 year-long pilot which included guitar lessons and a trip to Blackpool for pupils and families.

It also held English lessons for asylum seekers and refugees, which parents and teachers say have improved spelling, conversational skills, confidence and attendance.

Yasmeen Ahktar, Breeze Hill extended services project co-ordinator, explained: “The subsidy has enabled us to extend the reach of our out-of-hours activities to include pupils who would not otherwise have been able to participate for financial reasons.

“Not only is it fantastic to be able to level the playing field and give all children the chance to enjoy our activities, but there have also been significant tangible benefits to this increase in participation.

“We’ve seen improvements in children’s behaviour, communication and confidence, all of which benefits learning in the classroom.”

A similar scheme in Trafford hit the national headlines when children were told they could not go on trips with their classmates because they were not poor enough — even if their parents offered to pay.

Only those on free school meals were told they could enjoy the February half-term activities which include a trip to Knowsley Safari Park and the Chill Factory indoor snow centre.

However, a Government spokesman said no child should be left out and activities should be available to all, with those who can afford it being able to pay and take part.

Schools involved in the pilot schemes saw the number of poorer children taking part in activities nearly double from 35 per cent to 63 per cent.

Hilary Emery, form the TDA, said: “Schools need to ensure financially disadvantaged children are aware of the extended services on offer in their school, the benefits of involvement and that they can take part too.”