The Pupil Premium is additional funding allocated to schools based on the number of children in the school who are:
- eligible for free school meals (FSM) – £1,515 per pupil
- who have left local authority care on a special guardianship order or child arrangements order, previously known as a residence order (Post LAC) – £2,630 per pupil
- services children – £365 per pupil
Schools decide how best to use this grant in order to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils of all abilities to reach their potential and to support children and young people with parents in the regular armed forces.
Schools are required to publish key information online, which includes the publication of the amount of Pupil Premium received by the school, what it has been spent on and any measurable impact of that spend.
Children Looked After (CLA)
Children who are in care with Wirral Borough Council require a Personal Education Plan (PEP) to accurately identify their needs and ensure schools offer focused support. In Wirral, the Virtual School for Children Looked After coordinate the funding for these children and identify the Pupil Premium Plus (PP+) payments that schools will receive to address appropriate targets. The purpose of Pupil Premium Plus is to offer ‘over and above’ what any other child would receive at home and school to narrow the attainment gap between looked after children and their peers. The annual amount of money that can be claimed is £2,630 per pupil.
What is the Pupil Premium?
The Pupil Premium was introduced by the Government in April 2011. It was designed to give additional money to support schools in raising the attainment of children who receive free school meals (FSM) and those children in local authority care. These groups of children have been identified nationally as achieving at a lower level than children from less disadvantaged backgrounds. For example, national figures show that 11-year-olds who are eligible for Free School Meals are around twice as likely not to achieve age-related expectations in maths and English as other 11-year-olds.
Pupil Premium is allocated to schools based on the number of children who are currently known to be eligible for FSM and children who have been looked after in local authority care continuously for more than six months.
Eligibility for the Pupil Premium is also extended to pupils who have been eligible for free school meals (FSM) at any point in the last 6 years. The funding is given to schools to spend as they think best, although there is a requirement to publish online how this money is spent.
The Pupil Premium at Church Drive Road Primary
At Church Drive, we are committed to ensuring all our children make the best possible progress. We track the achievements of every child on a regular basis and do all we can to make sure each child achieves their potential. We also have a duty to ensure that no group of children are disadvantaged due to their gender, ethnic origin or family income or background. At Church Drive, some of our children are disadvantaged through circumstance, yet do not claim free school meals.
We are well-staffed at Church Drive Primary School and each year band has access to some TA support allocated to Pupil Premium children as appropriate.
Children are familiar with working in groups of different sizes, at different times of the day, with different adults, such as support from outside organisations. With this type of organisation, we give children extra support as and when pupils need it.
The Pupil Premium funding has allowed us to continue and extend what we already do – to monitor children’s progress and to give additional support when required, and support families who experience hardship. Children are certainly not singled out or stigmatised for getting some extra attention and we would never label a child in front of other children for receiving additional support.
PE and Sports
The Government provide additional funding to schools to help them improve physical education (PE) and sport. The funding has doubled this year from £8,000 plus £5 per pupil to £16,000 and £10 per pupil.
Schools can choose how they use the funding, for example to:
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hire specialist PE teachers or qualified sports coaches to work with primary teachers during PE lessons;
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support and involve the least active children by running after-school sports clubs and holiday clubs, e.g. the Change4Life clubs;
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provide resources and training courses in PE and sport for teachers;
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run sport competitions or increase pupils’ participation in the School Games;
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run sports activities with other schools.
Accountability
Since September 2013, Ofsted inspections report on PE and sport provision and on how schools spend their additional funding. Schools are required to publish on their websites details of how they spend (or will spend) their PE and sport grant. They must also include detail about the impact this funding has on pupils’ PE and sport participation and attainment.
Details of our provision and funding for the current year can be found below.