I strongly believe the arts have the power to transform lives. The earlier a child's engagement with the arts, the more likely they are to develop vital skills such as communication, analysis, confidence and teamwork. These skills can help pupils better engage with the mainstream curriculum.

Tens of thousands of England's poorest families are missing out on additional support for their children, a report into school subsidies has found. ...

Designed to give the UK's most disadvantaged children an academic boost, the pupil premium is a £1.25bn allowance to be spent on disadvantaged students: those eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) and children of members of the armed services. It is an excellent initiative that has the potential to genuinely improve the academic attainment of tens of thousands of children.

Schools need to spend pupil premium money on their poor students and not on recruiting more teaching assistants, Ofsted's chief has warned. Sir Mic...

The Government's flagship pupil premium could have a limited impact on the poor children it is designed to help, a charity suggested on Friday. Und...

Schools should compete to find the best way of spending the pupil premium - and could win an extra £10,000 for being the top performer, Nick Clegg wi...

Schools are being forced to use the Government's flagship pupil premium to plug cuts to their budgets, headteachers are warning. More than four-fif...

Half a million more poor children will benefit from Government help targeted at deprived youngsters, Children's Minister Sarah Teather is expected to ...

Financial pressures may put more schools in the red, which could lead to a drop in achievement, the spending watchdog has found. If schools struggl...