Pupil Premium
What is Pupil Premium?
Pupil Premium is an additional amount of money provided by the government for those children who have been entitled to receive free school meals at any point during the last six years.
Schools also receive funding for children who have been looked after continuously for more than six months, and children of service personnel (families who have parents in the Armed Forces).
At Waterside Primary School we strive to:
- Provide opportunities for all our students to engage in their learning and to acquire the skills and knowledge they need for future success;
- improve the range and quality of the overall learning experience for Pupil Premium pupils, including enrichment activities;
- use the Pupil Premium imaginatively and effectively to ensure that economic disadvantage for some pupils is not a barrier to success;
- create and maintain a high profile of Pupil Premium pupils among staff as a key accountability group;
- work with teachers, parents’ and carers’ as well as the governing body to ensure that all Pupil Premium pupils make at least expected progress through high quality teaching and meaningful feedback;
- track the progress of Pupil Premium pupils regularly, in order to identify any barriers and adjust interventions where required;
- rigorously evaluate the impact of interventions, in order that we make the best use of the Pupil Premium spend.
Free School Meals and Pupil Premium
Since the introduction in 2014 of the Government’s Universal Free School Meals initiative, all Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children have been entitled to a free meal at lunchtime. However, if you are eligible, there are still advantages for officially registering for Free School Meals/Pupil Premium regardless of which year your child is in. If parents register for Free School Meals for their child, school is able to claim Pupil Premium which helps us to provide additional support for them. It is really important that parents who meet the criteria (detailed below) register for Free School Meals and thereby Pupil Premium, to help our school secure this additional funding. This funding may also help you gain access to extra-curricular activities by reducing fees for after school clubs and/or school trips.
Under the current regulations you may be entitled to register for Free School Meals/Pupil Premium if you are in receipt of:
- Income Support
- Income Based Job Seekers allowance
- Guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
- Receive Child Tax Credit but not Working Tax Credit and also has an income below £16,190
- Supported under V1 of Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- Income related Employment and Support Allowance
The school really needs your help to receive this additional funding. If after having read the criteria above you feel you are eligible, please contact the office (in confidence) to register them. Alternatively, there is a new online service, where you can check your own eligibility for free school meals, or you can check on behalf of someone else.
- To complete a check you will need the following information for yourself, or the person you are checking on behalf of:
- Name, home address and email address;
- National Insurance Number or National Asylum Support Service reference number;
- Child’s name, date of birth and school
Even if you do not wish for your child to have a free school meal, registering them will enable the school to claim pupil premium funding that will benefit your child.
What is the Pupil Premium Report?
In April 2011 the Government introduced the Pupil Premium Grant. Schools were allocated additional funding for children who are eligible for free school meals (FSM). This includes children who have been registered at any point in the last six years (known as Ever 6 FSM).
The Government believes that the Pupil Premium Grant (PPG) is the best way to address the current underlying inequalities between these children and their peers by ensuring that funding to tackle disadvantage reaches the pupils who need it most. Specifically this funding was designed support schools in narrowing any attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers.
Schools are given the choice of how to use these funds to best meet those pupils’ needs.
The Government uses the number of children entitled to Free School Meals and, those in the care of the Local Authority and those with parents in the armed forces to calculate an appropriate amount of Pupil Premium for the school. Whilst those children receiving FSM are often supported, the school does not focus on these children alone. At Waterside we target support for children who are vulnerable and in need of additional support for a variety of reasons and wherever possible, we try to maximise the impact on others.
For a detailed breakdown of how the pupil premium grant was spent and what was achieved, please see the reports by clicking the links below: