Pupil Premium

Purpose of Pupil Premium

The purpose of the pupil premium in England is to provide additional funding to state-funded schools to help them raise the educational outcomes of disadvantaged pupils, particularly those who are eligible for Free School Meals. Evidence shows these pupils often face challenges that prevent them from performing as well as their peers, so the funding is used to tackle barriers to learning and help them achieve their full potential.
 

Key Aspects of the Pupil Premium

Targeted Funding:

The funding is allocated based on the number of disadvantaged students in a school. 

Addressing Inequality:

It aims to close the "achievement gap" by providing resources to support students who need them most. 

Wide-Ranging Support:

Schools use the funding in various ways to meet their students' needs, which can include:

Targeted Academic Support: One-to-one or small group tuition, extra support for specific subjects like speech and language. 

Teaching and Professional Development: Training for teachers to improve their skills in addressing diverse needs. 

Wider Approaches: Breakfast clubs, funding for educational trips, counselling, and support for social and emotional development. 

Funding criteria

Pupil premium funding is allocated to eligible schools based on the number of:

• pupils who are recorded as eligible for free school meals, or have been recorded as eligible in the past 6 years (referred to as Ever 6 FSM)
• children previously looked after by a local authority or other state care, including children adopted from state care or equivalent from outside England and Wales

Pupil premium is not a personal budget for individual pupils, and schools do not have to spend pupil premium so that it solely benefits pupils who meet the funding criteria. It can be used:

• to support other pupils with identified needs, such as those who have or have had a social worker, or who act as a carer
• for whole class interventions which will also benefit non-disadvantaged pupils

Pupil premium funding is allocated to local authorities based on the number of:

• looked-after children, supported by the local authority
• pupils who meet any of the eligibility criteria and who attend an independent setting, where the local authority pays full tuition fees

For pupils who are looked-after children, funding should be managed by the local authority’s virtual school head (VSH)  in consultation with the child’s school.

Details of the funding criteria for SPP is outlined in the Service pupil premium section.

Spending Rationale

Our spending rationale for 2025 -2028 is based on the following;

Pupil Premium spending for 2024-25 was decided upon after consultation with a wide variety of stakeholders with regards to the main barriers to educational achievement and data analysis by the Senior Leadership Team. We also completed a Pupil Premium audit .

This work identified the  main barriers identified were as follows:

• Learning in Key stage 1 continued focus due to the early childhood effects of remote learning/covid

• EYFS - Speech and communication needs increasing 

• Social, emotional and behavioural difficulties 
  o Mental/ emotional health difficulties

• Financial difficulties increasing - opportunities for wider activities 
  o Poor emotional resilience and self-regulation skills impact on many pupils’ ability to work collaboratively and to accept a degree of challenge in their learning
  o Children lack the aspiration necessary to achieve in all aspects of life

Impact

The impact of our Pupil Premium spending is reviewed on a half-termly basis through Pupil Progress meetings and duly reported as appropriate.

HOW TO APPLY FOR PUPIL PREMIUM

PUPIL PREMIUM : RECEPTION TO YEAR 6 SUPPORT