BBC South Today reported today that the introduction of free school meals in Oxfordshire have led to schools missing out on special funding designed to help poorer children under seven.

Parents on low incomes now need to register for the school to get the Pupil Premium, rather than free school meals.

Turn IT On supports computing at Wood Farm Primary School in Oxford, and yesterday Wood Farm’s headteacher, David Lewin, told BBC Radio Oxford that the situation is confusing for parents as they now need to apply for the Pupil Premium; something which can easily be missed.

David Lewin said,”the government has a desire to see more children have a healthy lunch, and they’re also wanting to put extra funding into helping children from more challenging backgrounds and schools are having to unpick that.”

He pointed out that the implication of fewer pupil premium applications being registered means lower funding available for vital investment in computing hardware and software.