Pupil Premium
The Pupil Premium was introduced in April 2011 and is additional funding that the government gives to schools for each pupil on roll where they are deemed to be disadvantaged. The money must be spent on that pupil to support their education, but it is for the school to determine how it is spent. The Department of Education website is a good source of additional information.
Here at Slaley First School we truly believe that every child should be successful. Children in our school will achieve very well. Our overall aim is for all children to shine and gain the opportunity to exceed expectations. The relentless drive to improve standards and the high expectations we have of each other will enable our children to exceed potential.
Additional support and resources have been made available for our children as a result of our pupil premium money. Interventions have been selected in order to have the greatest impact on children’s attainment.
Why is the Government providing Pupil Premium?
The Government believes that the Pupil Premium is the best way to address these 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 is eligible for Pupil Premium?
Pupil Premium is allocated to pupils in school year groups from Reception to Year 4 from low income families who are registered for free school meals (FSM) or who have been registered for FSM at any point in the last six years (known as Ever 6), together with children that have been in care continuously for 6 months or more.
Families may be eligible for free school meals and accordingly the pupil premium if they receive any of the following benefits:
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- Child Tax Credit (provided they are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
- Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
- Universal Credit
How do parents register their child’s entitlement for Free School Meals?
Parents must apply for free school meals via the County Council or their child’s school by following the link below ... this is a quick and simple process.
Pupils do not have to take up their entitlement to a free meal but Local Authorities and schools recommend that they do. The government is made aware of each pupil claiming FSMs each term via the school census so they have up-to-date information on those eligible.
What obligations are placed on the school?
Schools will need to monitor the impact of their selected approaches to improve provision for pupils entitled to the Pupil or Service Premium. The Pupil and Service Premium is not ring-fenced and schools are free to spend it as they wish to improve pupil attainment.
How are parents informed about the use of the Pupil Premium grants?
The school’s governing body must publish information on the school-website every year on the Pupil and Service Premium expenditure. For those parents that are not able to access the internet, a paper copy of this information will be provided. It should detail the funding received for the current academic year, as well as details of how it will be spent; there should also be details of how the previous academic years allocation was spent. Parents should be aware that school staff are bound by confidentiality rules on all matters pertinent to pupil’s educational needs, their care and health needs and wellbeing.
How are schools held accountable?
The Ofsted Inspection Framework ensures that their inspectors focus on the attainment of vulnerable pupils and in particular those who attract the Pupil and Service Premium. Ofsted has published a series of reports about how the pupil premium can be spent which can be found on their website.
The Department for Education’s performance tables detail the achievement of those pupils entitled to FSM and the Pupil Premium Grant(s). Individual pupils will never be identified through published information, this will only relate to groups of pupils, and in small schools numbers may not be published. Individual school information can be found on the Department for Education’s website.
Who should parents contact for further information?
If you would like to find out more about registering your child for free school meals, please contact us directly. This information will be held confidentially by us.
