AN 11-year-old boy has lost out on attending a week's summer school because he is "not disadvantaged enough," his furious dad claims.
Callum Peasegood, a pupil at West Meadows primary school in Hoyland, came home upset when friends got letters inviting them to the Kirk Balk Summer School - but he and several others did not.
The letter described the summer school as "a fantastic action packed opportunity." It included a trip to Lightwater Valley theme park, team building games, a scavenger hunt, video diaries and a Zulu theatre workshop.
Dad Richard was told his son was not entitled to go to the summer school because he was not among the 10,000 children in Barnsley eligible for pupil premium.
The premium is government cash given to schools to boost achievement of disadvantaged pupils. Those eligible for it must be registered for free school meals or be looked after by the state, such as those in care.
Pupil premium is worth £1,300 per primary pupil, £935 per secondary pupil and £1,900 per looked-after pupil and is paid directly to each school by the government. Individual schools decide how the money is used to deliver improved results.
He said he would have liked the option to pay for Callum to go to the summer school.
** The full story is in the Barnsley Chronicle, dated June 20. **
