Purpose
The Government believes that the Pupil Premium, which is additional to main school funding, is the best way to address the current underlying inequalities between children and their peers by ensuring that funding to tackle disadvantage reaches the pupils who need it most.
The Pupil Premium was introduced in April 2011 and is allocated to schools to work with pupils who have been registered for free school meals at any point in the last six years. Schools also receive funding for children who have been looked after continuously for more than six months, and children of service personnel and children adopted from care, or who left care under a Special Guardianship Order / Residence Order.
The Department would welcome your help in raising awareness of the need for parents to self-declare to the school that their child is eligible for the Pupil Premium.
In order for school to claim the Pupil Premium parents will need to inform the school about the child and provide supporting evidence, for example, show the school the original Adoption (Court) Order, or enrolling FSM.
Accountability
The Government believes that head teachers and school leaders should decide how to use the Pupil Premium. The school is held accountable through:
- the performance tables which show the performance of disadvantaged pupils compared with their peers
- the new Ofsted inspection framework, under which inspectors focus on the attainment of pupil groups, in particular those who attract the Pupil Premium
- transparency for parents as published online
Funding
In most cases the Pupil Premium is paid direct to schools, allocated to them for every pupil who receives free school meals. Schools decide how to use the funding, as they are best placed to assess what additional provision their pupils need. Local authorities are responsible for looked after children and adopted children and make payments to schools where an eligible looked after child is on roll.
What does this mean for Old Sodbury C of E Primary School
At Old Sodbury Primary School we support all of our pupils. We do this by providing high quality teaching, supplemented by interventions to support vulnerable learners as and when required. The School Leadership Team and the Governing Body monitor the impact of all spending and interventions, including the Pupil Premium.
We ensure that teaching and learning opportunities meet the needs of all of the pupils
- We ensure that appropriate provision is made for pupils who belong to vulnerable groups, this includes ensuring that the needs of socially disadvantaged pupils are adequately assessed and addressed
- We believe that careful monitoring and tracking allows us to identify and address individual need.
- Pupil Premium funding will be allocated to every child who is eligible and its aim will be to raise attainment and achievement. We recognise that not all Pupil Premium children have low attainment but we will endeavour to enrich their experiences and challenge their perceptions of themselves and their potential