Pupil Premium
Pupil Premium – What is it?
Pupil premium is a payment made to schools by the Government. It makes up part of the funding given to schools; it is received into the school budget and is available for use throughout the whole school. Schools are free to decide how best to allocate the money to effectively support and boost the attainment of the most vulnerable pupils. Pupil premium funding is based on pupils who are registered for a free school meal, having a parent who works in the forces or is looked after by the local authority for more than six months.
Why has it been introduced?
The government believes that the Pupil Premium, which is additional to the main school funding, is the best way to address the current underlying inequalities between children eligible for free school meals (FSM) and their wealthier peers by ensuring the funding to tackle disadvantage reaches the pupils who need it most. Whilst schools are free to spend the pupil premium as they see fit we are required to publish online information about how we have used the funds.
Pupil Premium
As per DFE guidance, the Pupil Premium Strategy should now be written on a set form that is standard across England. We are currently in the process of producing this and it will appear on our website as soon as it is complete. Please click the link below to see how we invest our money into the children using the key elements from the EEF (Education Endowment Foundation) to ensure that the Pupil Premium children get the best education and maximise their learning opportunities to ‘narrow the gap.’ Effective pupil premium strategies rely on access to high quality internal data and information.
https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evidence-summaries/pupil-premium-guide/
Evidence suggests that pupil premium spending is most effective when schools use a tiered approach, targeting spending across 3 areas, with a particular focus on teaching.
1. Teaching
Investing in high-quality teaching, for example:
- training and professional development for teachers
- recruitment and retention
- support for teachers early in their careers
2.Targeted academic support
Additional support for some pupils focused on their specific needs, for example:
- one-to-one tuition
- small group tuition
- speech and language therapy
3. Wider approaches
Support for non-academic issues that impact success in school, such as attendance, behaviour and social and emotional challenges. For example:
- school breakfast clubs
- counselling to support emotional health and wellbeing
- help with the cost of educational trips or visits