Pupil Premium Strategy
What is the Pupil Premium?
The Pupil Premium was introduced by the Government in April 2011. It was designed to give additional funding to support schools in raising the attainment of children who are vulnerable to possible underachievement. These pupils include those who are eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) and those children in the care of the Local Authority. These groups of children have been identified nationally as achieving at a lower level than children from less disadvantaged backgrounds. For example, national figures show that 11 year olds who are eligible for Free School Meals are around twice as likely not to achieve age related expectations in maths and English as other 11 year olds.
It is described as follows:
the pupil premium is additional funding given to publicly funded schools in England to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and close the gap between them and their peers.
Where does the money come from?
Pupil Premium is allocated to schools based on the number of children who are currently known to be eligible for Free School Meals, and those who have been in receipt of free school meals at any time during the past six years. Looked after Children (LAC) who have been in local authority care continuously for more than six months are also included and a lower premium is also in place for children whose parents are currently serving in the different Armed Forces.
The purpose of the Pupil Premium is to help schools to provide targeted support for vulnerable children- not necessarily just children who qualify for FSM.
It is for schools to decide how the Pupil Premium, allocated to schools per FSM pupil, is spent, since they are best placed to assess what additional provision should be made for the individual pupils within their responsibility. Source - DfE website
The funding is therefore given to schools to spend as they deem to be most appropriate, although there is a requirement to publish online how this money is spent and its overall impact. Although the school year runs from 1st September to 31st August, meaning pupils leave the school in the summer and join in September, the Pupil Premium is paid to schools in April at the start of the financial year.
The Pupil Premium at Western CE Primary School
At Western CE Primary, we are committed to ensuring that all of our children make the best possible progress academically, personally and socially. We regularly and rigorously track and analyse the achievement of every child and do all we can to make sure each pupil makes as much progress as possible. We also have a duty to ensure all groups of children regardless of their gender, ethnic origin, family income or background receive their entitlement to high quality teaching and learning.
We track the progress of our children as part of our regular 'Pupil Progress' meetings where we consider the historical and current progress of each child. Additionally, the monitoring process identifies children who are under performing or require support with their emotional and social development. The school’s Inclusion Lead works closely with teachers and learning support assistants to explore the barriers to learning and ways in which they can be overcome.
Intervention programmes and support can vary considerably depending on a child’s individual circumstances. Some activities with cost implications may be subsidised or paid for using the PPG funding, this provides opportunities for children who may otherwise be unable to take part. Impact will be measured through observations, pre and post evaluations of interventions such as ELSA, analysis of attainment data and discussions with staff, parents and pupils.
Thus, we are able to provide additional forms of support and appropriate intervention programmes for those children who have specific well-being and learning needs using a broad range of measures to decide which pupils should receive additional support from the three Pupil Premium Grants. We recognise that not all pupils who receive free school meals will be socially disadvantaged and that not all pupils who are disadvantaged are registered or qualify for free school meals. We therefore reserve the right to allocate Pupil Premium funding to support a wider range of pupils throughout the school who have been legitimately identified as needing additional support to achieve outcomes in their learning and/or well-being. The target group who receive support from the Pupil Premium Grant funding is subject to continual scrutiny by the Headteacher, Senior Leadership Team and Governors of Western CE Primary School.
The Pupil Premium funding allows us to continue and extend what we already do - to monitor closely children's academic progress, social and emotional well-being and to give additional support when required. All children are valued equally at Western CE Primary and we endeavour to ensure that it is not obvious which children are in receipt of free school meals, in care or have any additional needs; it is not part of our ethos to ever knowingly single out, label or stigmatise child
Pupil Premium Strategy Statement and review of spend
You can read about how we have spent and plan to spend our Pupil Premium grant here:
Pupil Premium Strategy Statement 2022-25
How to apply
If you think your child may possibly be eligible for free school meals (FSM), please do claim, even if you do not wish your child to eat school meals. Every child who is eligible generates valuable income (Pupil Premium Funding) for the school which helps us to provide more opportunities to secure better outcomes for our pupils. For more information about Free School Meal Eligibility Checking, please click HERE