St Just Primary School
Pupil Premium Policy
Background
The Government believes that the Pupil Premium funding, which is additional to the main
school funding, is the best way to address inequalities between children eligible for free
school meals (FSM) and those children who are not. Pupil Premium Funding is used to tackle
disadvantage in order to reach the pupils who need it most and to support those pupils to
reach their full potential.
Schools are currently given Pupil Premium funding for those families who have registered for FSM. This includes any child who has been registered for FSM at any point during the past six years. The children of members of the armed forces are also entitled to additional funding.Schools also receive funding for each pupil who has been looked after for one day or more,has been adopted from care or has left care under a special guardianship order, a residence order or a child arrangement order.
The money is given to schools to support them in enabling all pupils to reach or exceed the
nationally expected level for their age. The school is allocated a fixed amount of money per
eligible pupil; they are free to decide how best to use the funding and to employ the strategies that they know will support their pupils to increase the attainment. Guidance from the DfE confirms that there is no expectation that schools should spend the grant only on eligible pupils, or on a per eligible pupil basis. Schools are held accountable for how this funding has been used.
Principles
The staff and governors of St Just Primary School are committed to ensuring that provision
is made that meets the needs of all pupils to make the best possible progress. Our school also welcomes the requirement to tackle all forms of disadvantage and works to ensure inclusion and equal access for all learners.
We recognise that Pupil Premium funding is allocated to children in receipt of free school
meals and is a means of addressing some of the issues relating to social disadvantage. While
acknowledging and making provision for this, we recognise that not all pupils who are eligible for FSM, or have been eligible in the last six years, are socially disadvantaged.
We also recognise that not all pupils who are socially disadvantaged are registered or qualify
for FSM. We therefore reserve the right to allocate Pupil Premium funding to support any
pupil or groups of pupils that the school has legitimately identified as being socially
disadvantaged or requiring additional support.
Often parents are concerned that there is a stigma attached to being seen as a ‘low income’
family. At St Just, all matters regarding free school meals and Pupil Premium are treated
confidentially. The key purpose of our Pupil Premium funding is to enable all the pupils to
reach their full potential. We work with our families and colleagues to make sure everyone
involved with the child has high aspirations.
We recognise that barriers to achievement take a variety of forms and will do whatever it
takes to support a child, both in and out of the classroom. We use our resources to ensure
that every child has an equal opportunity to become an empowered learner. In order to
achieve this we offer our children a wide range of opportunities which are accessible for
everyone.
Aims and Objectives
At St Just, we are committed to maintaining the highest standards and enabling every child
to achieve their full potential in all aspects of life. We aim to ensure that all pupils’ academic, social and emotional and other needs are met and that there are no financial barriers which prevent children taking opportunities which are available to them.
We aim to support children in receipt of the Pupil Premium to achieve this through:
- ensuring that teaching and learning opportunities meet the needs of all pupils;
- ensuring that appropriate provision is made for pupils who belong to vulnerable
groups;
- supporting training and continuous development to improve the quality of all
teaching, target support through interventions and support whole-school strategies
to improve attendance, behaviour and readiness to learn as well as enhancing pupils’ cultural capital.
Provision
We offer a wide range of provision aimed at enabling all learners to enjoy and thrive in
learning and therefore achieve their best. We support children who belong to vulnerable
groups, including those who are socially disadvantaged. This provision has the full support of
the Governing Body and includes:
- teacher-led 1:1 and small group support;
- small group teaching;
- providing group work or individualised support with an experienced teaching assistant focused on overcoming gaps in learning;
- providing “nurture” support through the SPACE, Thrive practitioners etc;
- additional support and advice from specialists such as educational psychologists;
- providing an opportunity for pupils to eat breakfast in school through free Breakfast
Club provision;
- ensuring that children in receipt of the Pupil Premium are not disadvantaged through low levels of attendance or punctuality through Educational Welfare Officer support where needed;
- allocating a proportion of Pupil Premium funding to broaden children’s cultural capital including enabling parents to pay for activities such as trips or music lessons;
- contribution towards all Key Stage 2 camp/residential fees to enable children to access all the opportunities available to them and to take part in a wide range of enrichment activities.
- An allocation of £100 for parents of pupils eligible for Pupil Premium to spend at their discretion e.g for trips/uniform etc
Reporting and Monitoring
Pupil progress meetings take place at least once a term where the Headteacher / Pupil
Premium Lead and the teachers monitor the attainment and progress of all Pupil Premium
children and evaluate the overall effectiveness and impact of additional provision and
interventions in all aspects of the children’s development.
The Pupil Premium Lead meets regularly with the Pupil Premium governor to monitor
progress and the impact of the Pupil Premium funding allocation. The Pupil Premium Lead
reports termly on how the Pupil Premium is spent and the impact of that provision in the
Headteacher’s Report to the Governors.
The Pupil Premium Lead ensures that there is an annual statement to parents and carers
about how the Pupil Premium funding has been used to address the issue of raising
attainment for socially disadvantaged pupils. This is carried out within the requirements
published by the Department for Education and published on the school website.
Policy reviewed September 2022
Next review date September 2025
(or sooner in the case of new information, changes and / or legislation)
What is Pupil Premium?
The Government believes that the Pupil Premium funding, which is additional to the main school funding, is the best way to address inequalities between children eligible for free school meals (FSM) and those children who are not. Pupil Premium Funding is used to tackle disadvantage in order to reach the pupils who need it most.
Schools are currently given Pupil Premium funding for those whose families who have registered for FSM. This includes any child who has been registered for FSM at any point during the past 6 years. Schools also receive funding for each pupil who has been looked after for one day or more, has been adopted from care or has left care under a special guardianship order, a residence order or a child arrangement order.
The money is given to schools to support them in enabling all pupils to reach or exceed the nationally expected level for their age. Each school may decide how best to use the funding and they are held accountable for how it has been used to support pupils from low income families.
Often parents are concerned that there is a stigma attached to being seen as a ‘low income’ family. At St Just, all matters regarding free school meals and Pupil Premium are treated confidentially. The key purpose of our Pupil Premium funding is to enable all the pupils to reach their full potential. We work with our families and colleagues to make sure everyone involved with the child has high aspirations.
We recognise that barriers to achievement take a variety of forms and will do whatever it takes to support a child, both in and out of the classroom. We use our resources to ensure that every child has an equal opportunity to become an empowered learner. In order to achieve this, we offer our children a wide range of opportunities which are accessible for everyone.
Am I eligible?
A child is eligible for free school meals if their parent / carer (or the child themselves) receives of any of the following benefits:
- Income Support (IS)
- Job Seekers' Allowance (Income-Based) and equal based Job Seekers Allowance
- Income Related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA-IR) and equal based Employment and Support Allowance
- Child Tax Credit (CTC) with an annual income of less than £16,190
- Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
- Guarantee Element of Pension Credit (GPC)
- Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (IAA) Support
- Universal Credit - your household income must be less than £7400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get) as assessed by earnings of up to three of your most recent assessment periods
If you are claiming the benefits listed below you are NOT eligible for free school meals, regardless of what other benefits / credits are being claimed:
- Working Tax Credit
- Contribution-Based Job Seeker's Allowance and / or Contribution-Based Employment and Support Allowance
You can apply online at https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/schools-and-education/schools-and-colleges/school-meals/ which can also provide you with more information.