Across Chippenham, many families continue to feel the pressure of the cost-of-living crisis and for those with school-aged children, essential costs like uniforms, trips, and learning materials can quickly add up.
To help reduce these barriers and make sure all students can participate fully in school life, we delivered an £11,046 School Social Fund during the 2024–25 financial year.
This fund provided direct support to children and young people from low-income households, ensuring that financial hardship doesn’t stand in the way of inclusion, learning, or confidence.
What the Fund Supports
Schools can use the funding flexibly to meet the needs of their pupils, covering costs such as:
- School uniforms
- Curriculum-related trips and extracurricular activities
Funding allocations were based on each school’s Free School Meal (FSM) eligibility figures and were awarded following completion of a social fund reporting expenditure from the previous year.
Schools Supported and Amounts Awarded:
- Monkton Park Primary School – £1,680
- Charter Primary School – £2,080
- Queen’s Crescent School – £1,880
- Redland Primary School – £2,440
- St Mary’s Catholic Primary School – £880
- Hardenhuish School – £2,086
Why It Matters
By funding these simple but critical needs, the School Social Fund helps:
- Remove financial barriers to participation
- Promote equality of opportunity
- Support student wellbeing and self-esteem
- Ensure every child feels included
At a time when schools are being asked to do more with less, this type of responsive, practical support makes a meaningful difference – not just to students, but to families and the wider school community.
We’re grateful to the schools who delivered this work thoughtfully. Our Grants Officers are in the process of meeting with local schools to ensure that all children in Chippenham from families on a low income can benefit from our funding support.