What is it?

The pupil premium is funding allocated to schools for the specific purpose of boosting the attainment of pupils from low-income families. Funding 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.

Why has it been introduced?

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 eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) and their wealthier peers by ensuring that funding to tackle disadvantage reaches the pupils who need it most.

How Does The School Spend This Money?

We have utilised strategies from 'Narrowing the Gap' and the Sutton Trust EEF toolkit, that have been researched and analysed extensively, to inform us of the best ways to use this money.

We monitor levels of progress and attainment for all children very carefully. Where children would benefit from additional support to boost their learning, this funding can add to the opportunities that we are able to offer.

The funding is used on a priority basis to support any child who needs it in order to achieve at least the levels expected for their age. Funding primarily supports the acquisition of skills in English and Maths access to the wider curriculum and pastoral support.

Summary of spending and actions taken (see the review below for more details):

• Increased teaching hours and HLTA hours to support a 4 class structure across the school and improve quality first teaching.
• Teaching Assistants provide 'keep up and catch up' support funded by the Pupil Premium, specifically: phonics, reading and spelling as well as maths.
• Teaching Assistants act as 'key workers' for Pupil Premium children, taking an interest in their learning, encouraging them to access extra curricular activities and providing them with additional opportunities to talk and pastoral support if needed
• The school has used Pupil Premium funding to invest in reading resources to target early reading development.
• The school has invested in staff training to ensure intervention support is targeted and succinct and has a positive impact on progress.
• The school allocates a proportion of the funding to enable us to provide support for wider learning and opportunities for all eligible children. This supports with such things as extra-curricular clubs, school uniform, music tuition and purchase of musical instruments for children.

The impact of this provision:

1. Improved rates of progress for identified individuals and groups
2. Enhanced first quality teaching  for pupil premium children in lessons.
3. Improved levels of confidence in the child’s approach to learning enabling them to build on their new skills or understanding.
4. Improved levels of independence in the classroom.
5. Greater willingness and confidence to talk about learning and what the child wants to achieve next.
6. Pastoral support ensures readiness to learn.