EDUCATION chiefs are set to launch a new strategy to address the “expressly unfair” achievement gap between disadvantaged children and their peers.

Schools get pupil premium funding based on the number of pupils they have who are either eligible for free school meals, or who are looked-after children or previously looked-after. There is a separate payment for pupils who have a parent in the armed forces.

As of June this year, Northumberland had 10,714 eligible children – 22.2 per cent of primary and 24.6 per cent of secondary pupils, attracting more than £13m of funding to schools in the county.

However, a report to a recent meeting of Northumberland County Council’s family and children’s services committee stated: “Currently, the pupil premium funding does not seem to be having an impact in Northumberland on closing the performance gaps except in the Early Years.”

Coun. Guy Renner-Thompson, the new cabinet member for children’s services, said: “What this report says to me is that although outcomes are getting better, they are not getting better quick enough.

“We are going to be an authority that doesn’t just bury its head in the sand and say, things are bobbling along and getting better, we’re going to really, really push for these children to make sure they have the best outcome in life.”