Pupil Premium

Statement of Principle:

Our Mission Statement and Aims highlight the fact that we look to the potential of EVERY child whatever their circumstances. Whilst a set of children have been identified as being eligible for Pupil Premium, we see them as individuals. Each child is special and unique, each child has different needs and each and every child in our school is encouraged without distinction to be the best that they can be.

What is the Pupil Premium?

The Pupil Premium Grant is allocated to Schools by reference to the number of children from low-income families who are currently known to be eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) and children who have been looked after continuously for more than six months. The calculation of the payment also takes account of pupils who have been eligible for FSM at any point in the last 6 years (known as the Ever 6 FSM measure). As a School we are currently free to spend the Pupil Premium as we see fit to meet the needs of our targeted children and close the gap in achievement. We are held accountable for how we use the additional funding to support pupils from low-income families.

Our key intentions in making the best use of the Pupil Premium funding

Our Mission Statement and Aims highlight the fact that we look to the potential of EVERY child whatever their circumstances. As a school we look to Make S=P+A+C+E for EVERYONE – an initiative aimed at inclusion in its widest sense. Whilst a set of children have been identified as being eligible for Pupil Premium, we see them as individuals. Each child is special and unique, each child has different needs and each and every child in our school is encouraged without distinction to be the best that they can be.

Much of the work that is outlined in our Pupil Premium statement is also intended to support the needs of all of our children as required, regardless of whether they are disadvantaged or not.

High-quality teaching is at the heart of our approach, with a focus on areas in which disadvantaged pupils require the most support. This is proven to have the greatest impact on closing the disadvantage attainment gap and at the same time will benefit the non-disadvantaged pupils in our school. Implicit in the intended outcomes detailed below, is the intention that non-disadvantaged pupils’ attainment will be sustained and improved alongside progress for their disadvantaged peers.

Our strategy is also integral to wider school plans for education recovery, notably in its targeted support through the National Tutoring Programme (and in our use of our own staff in providing additional 1:1 and small group support) for pupils whose education has been worst affected, including non-disadvantaged pupils.

Our approach is responsive to common challenges and individual needs, rooted in robust diagnostic assessment, not assumptions about the impact of disadvantage. The approaches we have adopted complement each other to help pupils excel. To ensure they are effective we will:

• ensure disadvantaged pupils are challenged in the work that they’re set
• act early to intervene at the point need is identified
• adopt a whole school approach in which all staff take responsibility for disadvantaged pupils’ outcomes and raise expectations of what they can achieve.

Through careful evaluation of the academic and pastoral needs of disadvantaged children, our pupil premium strategy looks to ensure that we break down any barriers to disadvantaged children thriving in school and achieving their potential.

Our overall aims are:

• To raise the aspiration and ambition of disadvantaged students and to ensure that they have equitable access to all school experiences.
• To ensure all disadvantaged students benefit from quality first teaching where planning considers their individual learning needs including barriers to learning.
• To utilise targeted interventions and support, in all subjects, facilitating high quality education provision for disadvantaged students.
• To remove non-academic barriers including attendance, behaviour and wellbeing to support the success of disadvantaged students.
• To improve the progress and outcomes of disadvantaged students and eliminate the gaps between their progress and outcomes and that of their more affluent peers.
• To improve the reading fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary of disadvantaged students.
• To improve the mental health and well-being of disadvantaged students.