The Department for Education (DfE) have released guidance providing details of additional funding available to schools during the outbreak. This will cover extra costs endured relating to COVID-19. The DfE have already announced that schools will continue to receive their core funding allocations and this will happen despite any periods of partial or full closure. This is to ensure that schools are able to meet their regular financial commitments such as paying staff. Although, there will be some schools that have already suffered additional costs due to the outbreak and the current allocations will not cover these costs. An outline of what is covered as part of the additional costs is provided in the full guidance.
The Government will continue to review and update the guidance as necessary, including publishing further guidance with more details of how schools can make claims. However, the current guidance focuses on the financial support accessible for schools up until the end of the 2019/20 summer term. This is to ensure that all key staff can be focused on their invaluable roles of supporting children throughout this difficult time.
The guidance outlines that funding will be accessible for all state-funded mainstream and special schools, and alternative provision, including*:
- Primary, secondary and all through maintained schools, academies and free schools
- 16 to 19 academies and maintained schools
- Maintained special schools
- Special academies and free schools
- Non-maintained special schools
- Pupil referral units
- Alternative provision academies and free schools
- Maintained hospital schools and academies
The guidance also includes*:
- How schools can access funding
- Additional costs covered by the fund
- Funding allowances
- Expectations of schools
- Short-term support with costs
You can access the full guidance provided by the DfE by following this link.
This guidance is subject to change and we will try our best to keep this information updated regularly. Please contact your HR Consultant by calling 01924 827869 if you have any specific questions or would like further support through this challenging time.
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