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Pupil premium is a payment made to schools by the Government. It makes up part of the funding given to schools; it is received into the school budget and is available for use throughout the whole school. Schools are free to decide how best to allocate the money to effectively support and boost the attainment of the most vulnerable pupils. Pupil premium funding is based on pupils who are registered for a free school meal, having a parent who works in the forces or is looked after by the local authority.
The government believes that the Pupil Premium, which is additional to the main school funding, is the best way to address the current underlying equalities between children eligible for free school meals (FSM) and their wealthier peers by ensuring the funding to tackle disadvantage reaches the pupils who need it most.The Government do not dictate how schools should spend this money, but are clear that schools need to employ strategies that they know will support pupils to increase their attainment, and ‘narrow the gap'.
Evidence suggests that pupil premium spending is most effective when schools use a tiered approach, targeting spending across three areas, with a particular focus on teaching.
Investing in high-quality teaching, for example:
developing high quality teaching, assessment and a broad and balanced, knowledge-based curriculum that responds to the needs of pupils.
assessment is key to ensuring the gaps are closed.
Additional support for some pupils focused on their specific needs, for example:
Support for non-academic issues that impact success in school, such as attendance, behaviour and social and emotional challenges. For example:
At Willington, in order to develop our strategy, we look at individual each child's unique circumstances and needs to target our actions ensuring that we are maximising the impact of the funding for them. We used the latest EEF guidance report to develop our plan. The guidance document can be found here:
https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evidence-summaries/pupil-premium-guide/
We aim to give our children the best possible life-chances and recognise that good academic outcomes give the children more choices when they are older. We understand that there can be non- academic barriers to learning which must be addressed in order to enable children to learn.
We review our Pupil Premium Strategy termly and this remains a focus for our school and is a central part of our school Improvement Plan.