Pupil Premium

Pupil Premium is a grant allocated to schools to support socially disadvantaged pupils. Pupil premium is not allocated to individual students. It is not an individual entitlement. The number of pupils qualifying for Free School Meals (FSM) is a ‘proxy’ indicator used by the government to allocate the funding to schools.

In making provision for socially disadvantaged pupils, we recognise that not all pupils who receive free school meals will be socially disadvantaged.

Equally we recognise that not all pupils who are socially disadvantaged are registered or qualify for free school meals.

The school has the responsibility for allocating the Pupil Premium funding to support pupils or groups of pupils legitimately identified as being socially disadvantaged. We have to set our own criteria for how the money is best allocated in order to meet the needs of the greatest number of disadvantaged pupils.
We are accountable for how we have used the additional funding to support students and we are required to publish online information about how we have used the Pupil Premium, in order to ensure that parents and others are made fully aware of the attainment of pupils covered by the Premium and the extra support that they receive.

We work to ensure that the teaching and learning opportunities afforded by the pupil premium funding meet the largest possible number of pupils in order to ensure the maximum benefit.

To maximise the benefit our pupils’ gain from the limited resources available to us we first assess the needs of all vulnerable groups with the school. Pupil premium funding like any other funding is then allocated to those who are eligible for it based on priority of need. It is used to support classes, groups or individuals based on the careful analysis of pupil progress tracking, identified special educational needs (SEN) or social need.

Limited funding and resources means that not all children receiving free school meals will be in receipt of pupil premium interventions at any one time, but all pupils who are eligible will receive some benefit derived from the allocation of pupil premium.