Friday, February 01, 2013

Why you need bloggers

As I've been off-air for a while, it might be handy for you the reader to understand why I come back, well first I enjoy it, second recently spotted in a documentary on "World in Action" the spectre of Johnathan Aitken the disgraced one time local MP and perjurer whose trusty sword of truth was designed to silence honest reporting, and finally gaps in local news media.

Now I'm not suggesting for one minute that, our much local media are biased, just I imagine busy when it comes to using in good news, which wouldn't fit in with local Tories or Slippery Labour.

Anyhoo as many of you are aware, in the horse trading with the Conservatives when forming the current government, Nick Clegg, Liberal Democratic leader and his team stuck to as many of Liberal manifesto promises as was possible, one of these being the pupil premium, my fellow Liberal Democratic emailed  a press release some time ago, but since I wasn't blogging and I thought Rebecca Smith, Editor of the Gazette might use it, I forgot it.

The pupil premium  is one of those policies which unlike many is target where it is needed in this case children from poorer backgrounds  and good knows here in Kent given KCC's dire performance by and preference for looking after children from affluent backgrounds it is certainly needed

Anyhoo with apologies to Bill here it is and of course if it were not for bloggers you would be none the wiser.



Press release (21/12/12)


£295,650 present for Birchington schools – Bill Furness


Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Government have given schools in Birchington were given a Christmas present.

The cash is an increase in the Pupil Premium funding, which targets extra money to schools depending on the number of children from disadvantaged backgrounds they have.

The Pupil Premium is a major Liberal Democrat priority that is being delivered by the Coalition Government.

In Birchington a number of pupils are expected to be eligible, meaning that our schools are set to benefit from an extra £295.650 to support disadvantaged children.

The Pupil Premium covers any primary or secondary school pupil that has been registered for Free School Meals in the past six years. For 2013/14, the Premium will be worth £1.65bn, or £900 per pupil, in total.

Commenting, Birchington parish Councillor Bill Furness said:

“Liberal Democrats are building a strong economy and fair society where everyone can get ahead.

“To do that we need to make sure that children are not held back by poverty and disadvantage.

“For too long, social background has been a deciding factor in a child’s chances for the future.

“I am proud that the Liberal Democrats are helping every child in Birchington to reach their full potential.

“This money does not just help the poorest children, it helps every child. Fewer children falling behind means less disruption in class and a better education for everyone.”

Commenting further, Liberal Democrat Schools Minister, David Laws said:

“We are already seeing across the country how the Pupil Premium is making a difference to children’s lives. Extra tuition, better IT resources and closer work with parents are all examples of how the Pupil Premium is being used to support the most disadvantaged pupils and benefit all their classmates too.

“That’s why I’m so pleased that, next year, we’ll be extending the Pupil Premium to another half a million children, and increasing the money that schools get to £900 per pupil.

“This means that, as a result of Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Government, more children will get a better start in life.”

Additional Notes

To see the Pupil Premium allocation for individual schools in Thanet visit:

http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/adminandfinance/financialmanagement/schoolsrevenuefunding/a00218077/funding-settlement-2013-14


By 2015, it will be worth a total of £2.5bn a year to schools in England.

The Pupil Premium was one of four policy priorities that the Liberal Democrats put on the front page of their 2010 General Election manifesto. The others were: raising the point at which you start paying Income Tax to £10,000 to give people on low and middle incomes a £700 tax cut; creating jobs by making Britain greener; and measures to clean up politics. The Pupil Premium was one of the key measures argued for by Liberal Democrats during the Coalition negotiations.




25 comments:

  1. I see your old mate Ted Watt-Ruffell STILL hasn't paid back his overpaidf mayor's allowance according to today's Gazette.

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  2. Never even met the guy, send enquires to Thanet Tories

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    1. Dr Moores refuses to even aknowledge this, as he's too busy obsessing over John Worrow...

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    2. Simon Moores is in love with John Worrow

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  3. Welcome back Flaigy - speaking of bungs, what's your thoughts on 0% salaries and Pleasurama seeking Government funding?

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  4. So if the pupil premium is the big success that you Liberals would like us all to believe then why did the head of OFSTEAD say this last year -

    Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw says a flagship policy to target extra funding at poor pupils in England is having little impact on many schools.

    A snapshot survey of 117 schools in poor areas suggests the extra £600 per poor pupil a year made little or no difference to support for them.

    Sir Michael said it was a "real worry" if cash was being diverted to "tarmacking playgrounds". -

    Seems that schools are so short of cash they have to resort to cheating the system.

    But you knew this already that the coallition is keeping schools short of cash to fund the setting up of the Free school system schools. Selective education comming round again. And despite the success of the Olympics cash for sports in schools is a thing of the past.

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    1. We live in a democracy, liberals have routed money to schools in deprived areas, whether schools use it wisely is unfortunately, influenced by
      Teaching professionals, who have generally have a sheltered social development, school college back to school. So no surprise the money might well get spent on decorating the staffroom, but what more can you do

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  5. What about your childish obsession with both Moores and Ted W-R, Peter, or is that OK?

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    1. Worrow is a pain, but as far as I'm aware he hasn't done anything illegal - unlike Ted, Ken, Sandy, Shirley and too many other past and present colleagues of Moores. But of course, to his ilk it's a far bigger crime to leave the Tories and become an independent than it is to kill animals and steal money from us... and it's more than just "childish" to ignore things like that. Take it from me, Ted is a scumbag.

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    2. Do not know the man, Peter, but whatever his faults he is now a very broken man, both financially and in standing. Surely that is enough.

      Interested also that you differentiate between criminality, that is caught, charged and convicted of something, and being an unpleasant, attention seeking scumbag. Shirley, for example, has been convicted of drink driving after years of good service to her town. Is she really more damaging to Thanet than the pantomine that passes for governance since Worrow came on the scene.

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    3. No, that's not enough. He should pay back the money, even if it's just a couple of quid per week. Instead, he's ignoring letters, including one hand delivered.

      I agree though that Shirley has done far more good for Thanet than John (or Simon) ever will. That still doesn't change the fact that she did something very stupid and deserves to be punished.

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    4. Worrow is a pain for standing up to bullies

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    5. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    6. Has he? He can't even get resigning right?

      Which says all you need to know.

      Maybe he's just confused.

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  6. This is a partly political broadcast by the missing from thanet party

    Politics suits you Tony. Party politics does not. Stand as independent, you will have more credibility.

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    1. I've thought that for a long time. This once great blog went downhill as soon as Tony aligned himself to the Lib-Dems.

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  7. Peter maybe this still is a great blog, perhaps you've just become a bigger prick.

    I've always been a liberal, any how you stick to your exotic artistic photography ( or grubby porn as some enlightened s people might see it), and I'll keep to my thing.

    Also some manners might not go amiss I've always viewed your blog as somewhat sleazy and but until now have thought unkind to say so, still since you from time to like abuse this site.

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    1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    2. Sorry Peter, if you wish to offensive comments please make them elsewhere?

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  8. Yea, pictures of pretty plain old totty in the nod who think their big break into modelling has arrived. Talk about exploitation.

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  11. So what's your praty's spin on this reported in todays Independent?

    "Official figures show that a total of 200,000 youngsters from all families will be pushed into child poverty as a result of George Osborne's 1 per cent cap on benefits from April, in effect a real-terms cut in welfare payments. But Steve Webb, the Liberal Democrat pensions minister, revealed in a parliamentary written answer last week that 50 per cent of those children come from families where at least one parent is in work."


    So what will Thanet's schools use the pupil premium for then, to buy children clothes and shoes to go to school in?

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    1. Don't know, all I do know however is that Tony Blair and Gordon Brown are architects, of such poverty.

      As any honest observer will know Labour, ruthlessly attacked working people, allowing big business to import and exploit east europeans by the million. The result being that our health, legal and education infrastructure are facing a crisis, clearly the blank cheque of endless welfare for the work shy has to end but unfortunately British citizens are actively discriminated against in industries such as farming, food and agriculture.

      I've no concerns that Liberals have done anything other that their best given the situation inherited from selfish slippery Labour

      Just to inform you this is the first line of the party's constitution "The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity."

      What do we know of Labour, Well Blair gave us a clue this morning, in what I take to be his and his friends pro-israel pro-american support for the war against islam. Still maybe we should follow Blair 16 million pound turnover last year maybe his right!

      Still I don't suspect Blair or any Labour party member gives a flying toss

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