Pupil Premium

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 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.

The Pupil Premium at Hartlip Primary School

Pupil Premium is allocated to schools based on the number of children who are currently known to be eligible for Free School Meals and children who have been looked after in local authority care continuously for more than six months.

At Hartlip Primary, we have a comparatively small proportion of children eligible for Pupil Premium Funding.

The purpose of the Pupil Premium is to help schools to provide targeted support for vulnerable children - not necessarily just children who qualify for free school meals.

“It is for schools to decide how the Pupil Premium is spent, since they are best placed to assess what additional provision should be made for the individual pupils within their responsibility.” (Source - DfE website)

Although the funding is given to schools to spend as they think best, there is also a requirement to publish this expenditure online. This is detailed with our Pupil Premium Strategy Statement below.

As a school, we follow some key principles in how we allocate and prioritise Pupil Premium spending

Guiding Principles for how the money is spent:

We ensure that teaching and learning opportunities meet the needs of all pupils.
We ensure that appropriate provision is made for pupils who belong to all vulnerable groups, including the needs of socially disadvantaged pupils.
In making provision for socially disadvantaged pupils, we recognise that not all pupils who receive free school meals will be socially disadvantaged.
We also recognise that not all pupils who are socially disadvantaged are registered or qualify for free school meals. We reserve the right to allocate the Pupil Premium funding to support any pupil or groups of pupils the school has legitimately identified as being socially disadvantaged.
Pupil Premium funding will be allocated based on need. Limited funding and resources means that not all children receiving free meals will be in receipt of pupil premium interventions at one time.
The school uses research and studies that look at high impact interventions and resources, linked to aspects of our school improvement plan, to target funding in a considered way. Some interventions have a proven track record of success in the school. Other interventions are researched to look at appropriateness and impact before a new commitment is made. Some funding may be used to provide appropriate enrichment experiences for children to boost self esteem and cultural capital, as well as achievement in specific areas.
If you think your child may possibly be eligible for free school meals, even if you don't want your child to eat school meals, please let us know. Every child who is eligible generates valuable income for the school.

For more details on the Pupil Premium please visit: https://www.education.gov.uk/schools/pupilsupport/premium