Valuable advice for schools on helping families struggling with the ‘costs of education in an age of austerity’
A new report on the costs of education from the viewpoint of parents was published on 13 May by the Oxford and District Action on Child Poverty.
The research, based on a survey of parents of children in Year 7 in three local secondary schools, was facilitated by a number of the Deanery’s Research Champions.
The study focuses on issues of poverty from the viewpoint of parents, examining the costs that they face in relation to their child’s education and the pressures experienced as a result of government funding policies, combined with rising rents and cuts/freezes in support for low-income families.
The report also examines schools’ use of pupil premium funding – demonstrating how school-level decisions can have a crucial influence on pupils’ school experience. It sets out strong recommendations for government and local authorities but also includes specific advice for schools about actions that can make a real difference to children’s experience.
You can download the report here:
http://www.cpag.org.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/CostsofEducation_web.pdf
And you can see news of the report’s publication and responses to it on the website of the university’s Department of Social Policy and Intervention, here:
https://www.spi.ox.ac.uk/article/the-costs-of-education-in-an-age-of-austerity