What is Pupil Premium?
The Pupil Premium was introduced in April 2011 and is allocated to schools to work with pupils who have been registered for free school meals at any point in the last six years (known as ‘Ever 6 FSM’). Schools also receive funding for children who have been looked after continuously for more than six months, and children of service personnel.
Why has it been introduced?
The Government believes that the Pupil Premium, which is additional to main school funding, is the best way to address the current underlying inequalities between children eligible for free school meals (FSM) and their peers by ensuring that funding to tackle disadvantage reaches the pupils who need it most.
Who decides on how the money is spent?
In most cases the Pupil Premium is paid direct to schools, allocated to them for every pupil who receives free school meals. Schools decide how to use the funding, as they are best placed to assess what their pupils need.
How are schools accountable for the spending of Pupil Premium?
They are held accountable for the decisions they make through:
- The performance tables which show the performance of disadvantaged pupils compared with their peers.
- The new Ofsted inspection framework, under which inspectors focus on the attainment of pupil groups, in particular those who attract the Pupil Premium.
The school received £430,630 to ensure that children in receipt of the premium are able to access a wide programme of enrichment activities as well as curriculum support to ensure that they achieve in line with their no pupil premium peers.
This year we have planned to spend the money as follows:
- To provide all DAY school educational visits to parents and to subsidise ALL residential visits by at least 70%. A list of all visits undertaken throughout the year can be found in the School Prospectus.
- To provide additional specialist support for the disadvantaged children in Year 2 in preparation for their transition into Key Stage 2.
- To provide enrichment activities for the children to support their musical appreciation through the employment of a music specialist to deliver throughout the school.
- To provide 6 themed days, 1 each half term, to celebrate different cultures and their celebrations. We organise a variety of different companies into the school to provide a programme of multi cultural events throughout the year. Full details can be found on the SMSC page of the website.
- To purchase a new school uniform (jumper and tie) for every child registered at the school in September 2025.
- To provide a rucksack for all children entering KS2 and a book bag to all children entering the EYFS in September 2025.
We know that the children benefit greatly from this and enjoy the additional opportunities given to them through this funding.
The impact of this funding is seen through the high levels of achievement and progress of the pupils at the school and their enthusiasm and behaviour towards learning is outstanding. Please see below for percentage attainment breakdown of children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
