Pupil Premium

School information about Pupil Premium

Pupil Premium is additional funding given to schools to address the current underlying inequalities between children eligible for free school meals (FSM) 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 (known as ‘Ever 6 FSM’). Schools also receive funding for children who have been looked after continuously for more than six months, and children of service personnel.

The Government believes that it is for schools to decide how the Pupil Premium Grant (PPG), allocated per eligible pupil, is spent, since they are best placed to assess what additional provision should be made for the individual pupils within their responsibility. Schools are required to publish online information about how they have used the Premium. This is to ensure that parents and others are made fully aware of the attainment of pupils covered by the Premium.

Aims:

At Palm Bay Primary School we will:

Make decisions about the spending of Pupil Premium funding based on educational research
Make decisions about the spending of Pupil Premium based on our knowledge of the children and their families
Ensure that staff are aware of the potential barriers to learning for FSM and LAC pupils
Track the attainment and progress of pupils on FSM as a group and ensure this is in line with the progress and attainment of the whole class
Measure the success of intervention programmes through impact analysis

Summary of the main barriers to educational achievement faced by eligible pupils at the school:

Identified Special Educational Needs
Speech and Language & social communication difficulties- A large percentage of our pupil premium children require speech and language support on entry
Social, emotional and mental health- Readiness for learning
Broken family structures
Low parental engagement/parenting skills- A greater awareness of the expectations of Key Stage and Year group to encourage a partnership in learning
Social housing (e.g. overcrowding)
Social Services involvement
Attendance & punctuality- a greater proportion of pupil premium children require additional support to maintain good attendance and to ensure they come to school on time

High level of medical needs

Attitude to learning- A greater proportion of our pupil premium children require an enhanced curriculum to ensure they are engaged in their learning

The challenge to establish a clear link between educational expenditure and pupils’ learning is harder than one would imagine. It may seem obvious that more money offers the possibilities for a better or higher quality educational experience, but the evidence suggests that it is not simply a question of spending more to get better results (Sutton Trust).

When your child starts at Palm Bay we send home a letter encouraging you to apply for free school meals even if you do not want your child to have a school lunch. The reason for this is to ensure that our school receives the maximum amount of funding possible.

It is so important that the school is able to access this money so that we can continue to focus on raising the achievement of all the pupils at our school. We are passionate about our children achieving the highest academics standards in order to prepare them well for the next stage of their educational journey.

Each year we will publish a report explaining how we are planning to spend the money, what our main focus is and what the impact of the support has been. You will also be able to see the impact of this money as it supports our continued efforts to raise standards and help the children become confident and well-rounded individuals.

You can find out more information, and apply online at http://www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/schools/free-school-meals or alternatively contact the school office.