Pupil Premium

What is Pupil Premium?

Pupil Premium is a funding grant introduced in 2011 and paid to publicly-funded schools by the government.  It is intended to help schools to support and improve the attainment of pupils whose families receive certain benefits.  This funding is aimed to boost their learning, progress and attainment and is based upon research showing that children from low income families perform less well than their peers at school.

Often, children who are entitled to pupil premium face challenges such as poor language and communication skills, lack of confidence and issues with attendance and punctuality. The pupil premium is intended to benefit the children who are eligible, helping to narrow the gap between them and their classmates.

“Closing the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers is the greatest challenge facing English schools. The gap is stubborn because its causes are entrenched and complex, and most lie beyond the control of schools and educators. However, it is clear that schools can make a difference. In England, the gap has closed in both primary and secondary schools since the introduction of the Pupil Premium, and in every part of the country schools have demonstrated how great teaching and careful planning can make a huge impact on the outcomes of disadvantaged children.”

Education Endowment Foundation - The EEF* Guide to Pupil Premium

*The EEF is an independent grant-making charity dedicated to breaking the link between family income and educational achievement. The EEF was established in 2011 by the Sutton Trust as lead charity in partnership with Impetus and received a founding £125m grant from the Department for Education. Together, the EEF and Sutton Trust are the government-designated What Works Centre for improving education outcomes for school-aged children.

Who is eligible for Pupil Premium?

Primary schools are given a pupil premium for:

• Children in Reception to Year 6 who are currently entitled to free school meals based on their family income.

• Children in Reception to Year 6 who were previously entitled to benefits-based free school meals, even if they're no longer eligible.

• Children in care (school applies directly to the Virtual School for Looked After Children for this funding).

• Children previously in care who have been adopted, or who have a special guardianship order, a child arrangements order or a residence order.

• Children recorded as being from service families.

At St Monica’s we follow a tiered approach to Pupil Premium spending, understanding that the best support for our children comes from supporting the highest quality first teaching in the classroom.  This involves ongoing training in staff meetings, INSET and coaching for all teachers, training for our support staff in leading high quality interventions and ensuring that we work consistently across school on our school aims for Teaching and Learning, and School Development Plan objectives.

"Evidence indicates that high quality teaching is the most powerful way for schools to improve pupil attainment, particularly for socio-economically disadvantaged students."  EEF - Menu of Approaches - evidence brief  https://d2tic4wvo1iusb.cloudfront.net/production/documents/guidance-for-teachers/pupil-premium/Pupil-Premium-resource-evidence-brief.pdf?v=1695997833

We then look at targeted academic intervention, as part of our termly pupil progress meetings, and then onto wider strategies as identified through our holistic approach to support with identification of barriers to learning and achievement.

At St Monica’s we recognise that all children achieve their best when we approach their learning holistically.  This is especially important for our more vulnerable and disadvantaged children.  Working together with class teachers, our Pupil Premium Lead supports staff in identifying and understanding the range of needs the children may have and also the barriers that there may be to their engagement in learning and achievement.  This may include social, emotional and behavioural needs, attendance and punctuality, safeguarding, SEND, access to technology, extenuating family circumstances (illness, bereavement, separation) and so on.  Through a better understanding of the child, the teachers can make better informed provisions in class, leading to improved outcomes for the child.  Working with parents is also an important consideration and part of the holistic approach; in knowing the children’s needs better we can focus on how best to support them.

Use of the Pupil Premium funding

St Monica’s Pupil Premium Strategy is always published on the school website, as is the annual evaluation of the strategy.

It is important to note that how the pupil premium is used is not directed by the government and is down to each school to determine their key priorities linked in with their School Development Plan and current data, and then subsequent actions to support those priorities.

Pupil Premium funding is not solely for intervention use and also is not used solely in order for pupils to ‘catch up’. Evidence shows that high attaining pupils eligible for the pupil premium are especially at risk of under-achievement in later years.

At St Monica’s we also use part of the pupil premium funding for a financial support grant to support low income families eligible for free school meals in paying for educaitonal trip or extra-curricular club costs.  For information on how to access this support please speak to the office staff.

How to claim Pupil Premium Funding

Credit – https://www.theschoolrun.com/the-parents-guide-to-the-pupil-premium

All children who currently qualify for free school meals based on their family circumstances are entitled to pupil premium. This applies if you receive any of the following benefits:

• Universal credit (provided you have a net income of £7400 or less)

• Income support

• Income-based jobseekers’ allowance

• Income-related employment and support allowance

• Support under Part IV of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999

• The guaranteed element of state pension credit

• Child tax credit, provided that you are not also entitled to working tax credit and have an annual gross income of £16,190 or less

 Children who are in care or who are adopted from the care system, and children who have a parent who is or was in the armed forces, are also entitled to a form of pupil premium grant.

In addition, pupils who have qualified for free school meals on the above grounds in the past, but are no longer eligible, continue to receive pupil premium for the next six years.

Schools are responsible for recording the children who are eligible for pupil premium in their annual school census - parents don't have to do anything yourself, other than making sure you return any paperwork that relates to the benefits you receive or your child's entitlement to free school meals.

If your child qualifies for free school meals or has at any point in the past six years, it’s important that you tell school – even if they're in Reception or KS1 and receive universal school meals for infant pupils, or are in KS2 and take a packed lunch – as this enables school to claim pupil premium funding to support learning.

https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evidence-summaries/pupil-premium-guide/

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium/pupil-premium