Pupil Premium is allocated to schools on the basis of the number of children who are entitled to free school meals (FSM) and to children who have been looked after continuously for more than 6 months. The school received Pupil Premium money for the first time in the financial year 2011-2012. From 2012-2013 this money also includes pupils eligible for free school meals or those who have been in public care at any point in the last six years.

We are free to spend the Pupil Premium as we see fit. As part of our duty to be publicly accountable for this additional funding and how we have used this to support pupils from low-income families, we are required to publish online information about how we have used this Pupil Premium. By doing so this ensures that parents and others are made fully aware of the attainment of pupils covered by the Premium and the extra support that they have received to enable this attainment.

Our full Pupil Premium Strategy Document can be downloaded at the bottom of this page. For more details of the Pupil premium visit: http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/pupilsupport/premium

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We identify and address barriers to learning faced by individual pupils through:

• everyday teaching practice; trawling records;
• discussions with pupils;
• parents and agencies involved;
• rigorous regular tracking of pupil attainment and progress, especially in our dedicated, solution-focused “closing the gap” progress meetings in which all disadvantaged children (including higher ability PP children) are discussed in detail with senior leaders, including our Inclusion Manager, the effectiveness of strategies to overcome their barriers to learning evaluated, and a new tailored programme put in place.

The main barriers to educational achievement faced by eligible pupils at the school:

• Low language levels – a % of our pupils have language delay or difficulties when they arrive in Foundation Stage. This leads to social communication difficulties and issues with reading and writing
• Broken family structures – family stress and low resilience
• Low parental engagement/parenting skills
• Safeguarding and welfare issues which may lead to Social Services involvement
• Loss and bereavement
• Trauma and other mental health issues in the family and/or child
• Frequent moves of country and school – some have no recourse to public funds
• Socio-economic disadvantage i.e. poverty
• Housing issues i.e. massive overcrowding, temporary poor quality accommodation and friction with neighbours and other members of the community
• Poor health and diet, high level of medical needs, and low attendance
• Special educational needs and disabilities
• Attendance figures are typically lower for FSM pupils.  Poor Attendance inhibits achievement.

Expenditure of Pupil Premium funding to overcome these barriers to learning: All the interventions and support are chosen for their proven effectiveness (research or internal impact evaluation), with the intention of accelerating the progress of our disadvantaged children to raise their standards of attainment and close any gaps with their non-PP peers. 

How we measure the impact of spending: We measure the impact of spending by evaluating Pupil Premium children's achievement on a weekly basis by teachers and through half-termly pupil progress meetings.  Overall spending is evaluated on an annual basis.

How we review our pupil premium strategy: Our strategy is evaluated on termly and yearly basis.  The Headteacher reports to the Governing Body on a termly basis.