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Pupil Premium

This page of the website provides information about the Pupil Premium Grant (PPG); who is eligible for Pupil Premium funding; and how we plan to use this funding at St Michael's.

What is the Pupil Premium Grant?

The Pupil Premium Grant is an allocation of additional funding given to schools to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and to help close the gap between them and their peers. The funding is intended to accelerate progress and raise attainment.

Pupil Premium funding is allocated to children from low-income families who are currently known to be eligible for free school meals (FSM) in both mainstream and non-mainstream settings and children who have been looked after continuously for more than six months. It is also used for pupils who have previously been on the FSM register, but no longer qualify (Ever 6).

As a school, we have the freedom to spend the funding, which is additional to the underlying school’s budget, in a way we think will best support the raising of attainment for the most vulnerable pupils.

The amount of Pupil Premium funding a school receives is calculated according to the number of pupils who meet the eligibility criteria set by the government. 

Who is eligible for Pupil Premium Funding?

Pupil premium funding is also allocated based on the following criteria:

  • Children who are currently recorded as being entitled to free school meals (FSM), or have been entitled to free school meals at any time from reception to Year 6. (Ever 6 FSM) – £1,455 per pupil

  • Looked after children (LAC) defined in Children Act 1989 as one who is in the care of, or provided with accommodation by, a local authority – £2,530 per pupil

  • Children who have ceased to be looked after by a local authority because of adoption, a special guardianship order, a child arrangement order or a residence order – £2,530 per pupil

(Funding allocations are for the academic year 2023 – 2024)

What is 'Service Premium'?

There is also additional funding for supporting children and young people with parents in the regular armed forces. Schools receive £335 for every pupil with a parent who:

  • is serving in HM Forces or

  • has retired on a pension from the Ministry of Defence.

This funding is to help with pastoral support.

Who is eligible for Free School Meals?

All children who currently qualify for free school meals based on their family circumstances are entitled to pupil premium. This applies if parents receive any of the following benefits:

  • Universal credit (provided you have a net income of £7400 or less)

  • Income support

  • Income-based jobseekers’ allowance

  • Income-related employment and support allowance

  • Support under Part IV of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999

  • The guaranteed element of state pension credit

  • Child tax credit, provided that you are not also entitled to working tax credit and have an annual gross income of £16,190 or less

Pupil Premium Funding at St Michael's:

Context:

When making decisions about using Pupil Premium funding it is important for us to consider the context of our school and the challenges faced by some of our disadvantaged pupils. Common barriers to learning for disadvantaged children can be less support at home, poor language and communication skills, lack of confidence, lack of resources, lack of resilience, more frequent behaviour difficulties and attendance and punctuality issues. There may also be complex family situations that prevent children from flourishing. At St Michael’s we strive to use the funding to ensure that our children from disadvantaged backgrounds are able to make the same progress as, or better progress than, their peers.

Principles:

  • We ensure that teaching and learning opportunities meet the needs of all of the pupils.
  • We arrange that appropriate provision is made for pupils who belong to vulnerable groups and for those who may be disadvantaged, to ensure that their needs are accurately assessed and met.
  • We recognise that not all children who receive free school meals will be disadvantaged and we also recognise that not all children who are disadvantaged have free school meals.

Provision:

We believe that every child in our school has the right the be supported in their learning and to achieve the best that they are capable of. It is up to school leaders to decide how to spend the Pupil Premium funding. The staff at St Michael’s are best placed to assess our pupils’ needs and use funding to improve progress and attainment.

  • We ensure that teaching and learning opportunities meet the needs of all of the pupils
  • We ensure that appropriate provision is made for pupils who belong to vulnerable groups, this includes ensuring that the needs of socially disadvantaged pupils are assessed and addressed.
  • 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 identified as being socially disadvantaged or vulnerable.
  • Pupil Premium will be allocated following discussions amongst teachers and senior leaders, identifying the priority classes, groups or individuals. Limited funding and resources mean that not all children receive interventions at one time.
  • All members of staff, governors and teaching assistants accept responsibility for ‘socially disadvantaged’ pupils and are committed to meeting their pastoral, social and academic needs within a caring environment. This is an essential, integral part of the spiritual development of the whole school community.

All of our work through the Pupil Premium will be aimed at:

  • Accelerating progress, moving children to at least age-related expectations, using interventions such as ‘keep up’ and pre-teaching.
  • Narrowing the gap for those pupils not on track to achieve the expected standard at the end of KS2.
  • Ensuring early identification of additional needs and to promote early intervention programmes.
  • Ensuring that there is extra adult support to facilitate emotional and social development.
  • Using academic research to make informed choices, including value for money, about the most suitable intervention programmes to use with our children to ensure we are promoting accelerated learning.
  • Ensuring that children are not disadvantaged because of access to IT equipment at home.

The range of provision the school and governors may consider making could include:

  • Enhancing teachers’ subject knowledge and pedagogy to improve teaching and learning for all
  • Additional teaching and learning opportunities or interventions, including those focused on personal, social, emotional and mental health
  • Additional small group work with a teacher/teaching assistant focused on overcoming gaps in learning
  • 1:1 support within class
  • Additional teaching and learning opportunities provided through learning mentors, trained TAs or external agencies
  • Targeted family support
  • Support to achieve greater depth standard within their year objectives, deepening learning
  • Support towards music lessons
  • Facilitating pupils’ access to education and to the curriculum
  • Facilitating pupils’ access to residential or enrichment activities such as educational trips or visits, ensuring that all children have first-hand experiences to use in their learning in the classroom.
  • Ensuring access to IT equipment to support learning in school and remotely at home, providing opportunities to access learning programs and platforms.

Reporting:

It will be the responsibility of the Headteacher, or delegated member of staff, to produce regular reports for the Governing Body, which will include:

  • The progress made towards narrowing the gap, by year group, for pupils entitled to Pupil Premium funding.
  • An outline of the provision made to support pupils who have been identified as Pupil Premium.
  • An evaluation of the cost effectiveness, in terms of progress made by the pupils receiving a particular provision, when compared with other forms of support.

The Governors will ensure that there is an annual statement published on the school website on how the Pupil Premium funding has been used to address the issue of ‘narrowing the gap’ for disadvantaged pupils. The Pupil Premium Strategy will be published on the school website and updated at the beginning of each academic year.

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