The Pupil Premium is additional funding allocated to children 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 previously been looked after and children of service personnel. This funding is used to address the current underlying inequalities between children eligible for free school meals (FSM) and their peers.
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.
Ryhope Junior School Statement of Intent
The well-being of our children and staff is at the core of our school. Enabling children to simply access school, the removal of barriers to learning and supporting cultural capital is pivotal to our school and our community. Our intention is that all pupils, irrespective of their background or the challenges they face, make good progress and achieve high attainment across all subject areas. The focus of our pupil premium strategy is to support disadvantaged pupils to achieve that goal.
All children are given the opportunity for meaningful support through our wellbeing support (including on site Early Help), PSHCE programme and supportive environment. This includes CP, LAC, CIN and Early Help children who are immediately supported before, during and after a plan.
Our ethos is that our teaching and learning opportunities will meet the needs of all children. We make provision for vulnerable groups and our most vulnerable deserve our best. 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 disadvantaged 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 will work alongside our School Improvement Plan and wider school plans for recovery post pandemic and will become integral to the strategic plans for the year ahead.
IDACI (2019 Data) shows that 21% (46 pupils) lived in Decile 1 (top 10% most deprived areas). These figures have increased significantly since 2015 when only 4% (8 pupils) were ranked in Decile 1. Data shows an increase in the number of children living in the top 30% most deprived areas in recent years, 2015 39% (88 pupils), 2019 47% (104 pupils) and 2021 52% (114 pupils). Health, crime and employment, including income, are significant barriers for pupils in our school; therefore, we place emphasis upon real-life experiences within the curriculum and have participated in the Careers Benchmark Project so that they aim high and develop their own aspirations and goals for the future, for example.
We acknowledge that not all PP children are socially disadvantaged. Funding will be allocated based on a needs analysis, identifying classes, year groups and/or individuals. Our approach will be 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:
We also recognise that not all pupils who are socially disadvantaged qualify or have qualified in the past 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 been identified as being socially disadvantaged.
Reporting Requirements
From the 2021/22 academic year the pupil premium strategy statement must be completed by all schools. This document includes planned usage of the recovery premium.
The Leadership Team and Governing Body regularly reviews the impact of how we allocate our Pupil Premium funding to make sure it represents both value for money and has played a direct role in helping pupils to reach their full potential, both academically and socially.
For general information about the Pupil Premium, see the link below:
What is Catch Up Funding?
Children and young people across the country have experienced unprecedented disruption to their education as a result of coronavirus (COVID-19). Those from the most vulnerable and disadvantaged backgrounds will be among those hardest hit. The aggregate impact of lost time in education will be substantial, and the scale of our response must match the scale of the challenge.
Schools’ allocations will be calculated on a per pupil basis, providing each mainstream school with a total of £80 for each pupil in years reception through to 11.
As the catch-up premium has been designed to mitigate the effects of the unique disruption caused by coronavirus (COVID-19), the grant will only be available for the 2020 to 2021 academic year. It will not be added to schools’ baselines in calculating future years’ funding allocations.