The man in charge of five schools in east Kent has claimed head teachers are using funds aimed at disadvantaged pupils to subsidise their budgets, labeling the scheme "bonkers".

Paul Luxmoore, executive head teacher at Coastal Academies Trust in Thanet, said without the so-called pupil premium "we wouldn’t be able to run our schools for all pupils".

He also claimed the system, which gives schools up to £1,900 per pupil from a poor background, is “patronising for some families”.

Mr Luxmoore oversees the running of five academies in Thanet: Cliftonville Primary School and Hartsdown Academy in Margate, Dane Court Grammar School in Broadstairs, Hartsdown Academy, King Ethelbert School in Westgate-on-Sea and The Royal Harbour Academy in Ramsgate.

His outburst came at a Kent County Council select committee meeting on Monday.

He believes cuts to government funding mean schools are becoming more reliant on the schemes like the pupil premium to balance the books.

He said: “If we didn’t have pupil premium money, we wouldn’t be able to run our schools for all pupils, not just disadvantaged children.

“It is not the case that you have the money that you literally spend on those students – it doesn’t happen."

He added: “As a national policy - I think it’s bonkers.

“As a national policy - I think it’s bonkers" - Paul Luxmoore, executive head teacher at Coastal Academies Trust

“It annoys me that with a few hundreds of pounds, teachers and head teachers are expected to eradicate poverty through education – it is unrealistic.

“It should be the responsibility of government or the collective responsibility of society in general.”

Publically funded schools can receive up to £1,900 per pupil from a poor background or in local authority care, as a push to improve their grades.

Parents of eligible pupils are either on income support, jobseeker’s allowance, employment and support allowance or have a salary of less than £16,190 per year.

However Mr Luxmoore told councillors the scheme is creating a culture where parents on a low income are classed as “rubbish parents”.

He said: “I find it patronising for some families, who feel that it’s saying ‘if your parents are low income parents, they must be rubbish parents' and that’s simply not true and quite dismissive.

“In fact, there are many well-off parents who are not terribly good at parenting and sometimes we see that in some of our schools too.

“Generalisation based on income level is unhelpful. Where we need more intervention is where attainment is low upon entry to the school and those children deserve and need the extra support and extra focus.”

Deputy principal of Oasis Academy in the Isle of Sheppey, Steve Ward, told councillors he suspects parents are not coming forward for pupil premium out of pride.

Mr Ward said: “We have a lot of students who are pupil premium but haven’t declared that.
“It is often a matter of pride with parents. Parents don’t want to be seen as they come from a poor background, a background where they need additional support and this extra funding helps us out.”

Mr Ward oversees the programme at Oasis Academy and uses the pupil premium to pay for school trips off the island, a breakfast club before school, uniform and after school tuition.
He said: “We are just doing whatever we can to narrow that gap as far as we possibly can. This is an academic gap as well as a social gap.

“It’s about getting the right recipe of things to make sure that they can sit in a classroom and function just like everyone else."

The Department of Education argue that since the introduction of pupil premium in 2011, the difference in grades of disadvantaged pupils and their peers has reduced in both primary and secondary schools.

A spokesperson said: “We have invested over £11bn since 2011 in the pupil premium to help schools support their most disadvantaged pupils and is closing the attainment gap at both primary and secondary level.

“All schools are held to account for how they use pupil premium through performance tables and Ofsted inspections.”