Pupil & Sports Premium
Pupil Premium
What is it?
The Pupil Premium was introduced in April 2011 and is additional funding that the government gives to schools for each pupil on roll where they are deemed to be disadvantaged. The money must be spent on that pupil to support their education, but it is for the school to determine how it is spent. The Department of Education website is a good source of additional information:
How is Pupil Premium Grant spent?
Poverty or low income is the single most important factor in predicting a child’s future life chances, with many pupils having low attainment by the time they leave school at age 16. The Government believes that the Pupil Premium is the best way to address these underlying inequalities between children eligible for free school meals (FSM) and their peers by ensuring that funding to tackle disadvantage reaches the pupils who need it most.
Who receives the Pupil Premium?
Pupil Premium is allocated to pupils in school year groups from Reception to Year 11 from low income families who are registered for FSM, or who have been registered for FSM at any point in the last six years (known as ‘Ever 6’), together with children that have been in care continuously for 6 months or more and those who have previously been in care.
What is the Service Premium?
The Service Premium grant is for pupils who have a parent serving in the armed services. This grant is not solely for raising attainment but for providing additional (mainly pastoral) support.
Who receives the Service Premium?
Pupils with a parent currently serving in the armed services and supporting their family, pupils who have a parent who died in action and those whose parents have left the service since April 2011 for other reasons, including injury. To be eligible, the parent must be supporting their family, so where they are separated or divorced a pupil will not be eligible
How do parents register their child’s entitlement for Pupil Premium?
Parents must apply for free school meals via the County Council or their child’ school, this is a quick and simple process. Telephone with your National Insurance Number, date of birth, name and child’s details and an eligibility check can be carried out using the Department for Education’s Eligibility Checking System, this will confirm if details have been matched or not. It will not tell us what benefits you are in receipt of, dates when a benefit was awarded or say how much you receive. Confirmation will be sent to you and the school within 5-10 working days. Pupils do not have to take up their entitlement to a free meal but Local Authorities and schools recommend that they do. The government is made aware of each pupil claiming FSMs each term via the school census so they have up-to-date information on those eligible.
How much do we receive?
The Pupil Premium for the financial year 2020 – 2021 is £1345, the Service Premium is £310 and Pupil Premium+ for looked after and previously looked after children is £2345. This is significant additional money for schools to spend on supporting disadvantaged pupils and schools are very keen to ensure that all eligible pupils are ‘signed up’. Grants are based on those pupils included in the January schools’ census. At Farndon Fields, we understand that it is not only pupils who qualify for Pupil Premium who may need the support from the school as detailed below; every child is assessed for extra support on an individual basis according to their need.
Who should parents contact for further information?
Contact the school office if you would like to find out more about registering your child for free school meals. This information will be held confidentially by the school. The office will also be able to direct you to any reports the school has produced relating to the use of the pupil premium. The Pupil Premium Lead can offer further information to those parents enquiring about the use of the Pupil Premium.
How is the Pupil Premium used at Farndon Fields Primary School?
We ensure that teaching and learning opportunities meet the needs of all pupils. Appropriate provision is made for pupils that belong to vulnerable groups, this includes ensuring that the needs of socially disadvantaged pupils are adequately assessed and addressed. Pupil Premium funding will be allocated following a needs analysis which will identify priority classes, groups or individuals. This will be through whole school monitoring of data, assessments and discussions with the class teacher. We recognise that not all pupils that receive Pupil Premium funding will be socially disadvantaged.
The funding is used in several ways at Farndon Fields Primary School. Funding is used to provide additional support for children to ensure they make accelerated progress in core curriculum areas. This support is delivered and monitored by a teacher and also delivered by trained support assistants. At Farndon Fields, we invest in ensuring that appropriate wellbeing support is in place through the provision of ELSAs and a Family Support Worker. In addition, funding is available for pupils in receipt of Pupil Premium to provides assistance with costs associated with school trips and uniform.
How is the use of the Pupil Premium evaluated?
Discussions with governors, parents, staff and children clearly shows the value of how this funding is allocated at Farndon Fields Primary School. Parents of children receiving the support are fully supportive of the process and recognise the benefits this gives their children.
As a school we will endeavour to judge the impact of the use of the Pupil Premium Grant by:
1. Tracking Pupil Premium children throughout the year to monitor their academic and social progress. Regular data analysis is used to measure the impact of the support that is in place. Pupil progress meetings take place termly and the progress and attainment of pupils is reviewed.
2. Carefully monitoring pupils with emotional support. Attendance and behaviour logs are kept to monitor the impact of these interventions. Pupils are also monitored for their participation in after school clubs to support their wellbeing and social interaction.
3. Using pupil feedback (interviews and shared time in class)
4. Details of the impact of spending, interventions and progress are monitored and reported on by the Pupil Premium Lead and Headteacher.
Sports Premium
The Government has recently announced a renewed package of funding for physical education (PE) and school sport. Through a new ‘Sport Premium’ the Government is providing £150 million in each of the next two years to support the delivery of PE and sport in primary schools.
This funding will be ring fenced, and will be allocated directly to primary schools across England, providing them with dedicated resources to buy in invaluable expertise and support. Funding will be allocated through a lump sum for each school and a per-pupil top-up mechanism. The formula will reference the number of primary-aged pupils (i.e. children between the ages of 5 and 11). All schools with seventeen or more primary-aged pupils will receive a lump sum of £16,000 plus a premium of £10 per pupil.
You can see how our sports funding was spent in 2023/2024 by clicking here
You can see how our Sports Funding was spent in 2022/2023 by clicking here
You can see how our Sports Funding was spent in 2021/2022 by clicking here
You can see how our Sports Funding was spent in 2018/2019 by clicking here
You can see how our Sports Funding was spent in 2017/2018 by clicking here
You can see how our Sports Funding was spent in 2016/2017 by clicking here
As a result of the Sport Premium Funding…
- We have developed our PE provision
- Increased the number of competitions the children attend inter school and introduced more competition interschool
- Developed our provision of swimming
- Have more PE equipment to allow more children to be active at the same time
- More children are active during lunch times