Pupil Premium
The Government gives funds to schools to help children from families with lower incomes do their very best. This funding is called a ‘Pupil Premium’ and is based on the number of children who are entitled to free school meals.
Funding is allocated for children who are looked after by the Local Authority, and for every child who is registered for Free School Meals.
All our pupils in Reception to Year 6 are currently provided with a universal free school meal. However, to be entitled to Pupil Premium funding, parents must make an application for Free School Meals.
Purpose of Pupil Premium (from the Department for Education website):
The Government believes that the Pupil Premium, which is additional to main school funding, is the best way to address the current underlying inequalities between children eligible for free school meals (FSM) and their wealthier peers by ensuring that funding to tackle disadvantage reaches the pupils who need it most.
In most cases the Pupil Premium is allocated to schools and is clearly identifiable. It is for schools to decide how the Pupil Premium, allocated to schools per FSM pupil, is spent, since they are best placed to assess what additional provision should be made for the individual pupils within their responsibility.
Schools are free to spend the Pupil Premium as they see fit. However, they will be held accountable for how they have used the additional funding to support children from low-income families.