pupil premium

What is Pupil Premium Funding?

Once a year we provide the department for education with information that we hold about our pupils in a census return. Allocations are made based on the school which the eligible pupil attends at the time of the January school census. This information is used to determine the amount of additional funding we receive for specific pupils, and we then ensure the money is spent on those same pupils over the course of the school year. The Pupil Premium is additional funding given to schools so that we can support our disadvantaged pupils and close the attainment gap between them and their peers.

Where Can I Find More Information On Pupil Premium Funding?

For more information on Pupil Premium please click here to visit the Department for Education’s website.

How Do I Know If My Child Can Receive Pupil Premium Funding?

Free School Meals

The most common reason a pupil receives Pupil Premium funding at our school is that a parent is registered as receiving a benefit that entitles them to free school meals. This is not the same as receiving a free school meal as your child is in KS1.

Free school meal/pupil premium funding now works as all pupils in KS1 (Class 1 pupils) will receive a free school meal under the UIFSM (Universal Infant Free School Meals) Scheme. However, if you receive certain benefits your child can still receive pupil premium funding, but you MUST fill in all the details on the free school meal form available upon request from the office.

KS2 (Yr3, Yr4, Yr5 & Yr6) All pupils will need to apply for free school meals and pupil premium in the same way as before.

Service Children

Children of armed service personnel are also eligible. Service children are children and young people from families where one or more parents is currently in the British armed forces of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Pupils attract the premium if they meet the following criteria:

• one of their parents is serving in the regular armed forces
• one of their parents served in the regular armed forces in the last 3 year
• one of their parents died while serving in the armed forces and the pupil is in receipt of a pension under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) and the War Pensions Scheme (WPS)

Looked After Children

Schools will also receive £2345 for each pupil who has left local-authority care because of 1 of the following:

• adoption
• a special guardianship order
• a child arrangements order
• a residence order

If a pupil has been registered as eligible for free school meals and has also left local authority care for any of the reasons above, they will attract the £1900 rate.

Children who have been in local authority care for 1 day or more also attract £1900 of pupil premium funding. Funding for these pupils doesn’t go to their school; it goes to the virtual school head (VSH) (https://bit.ly/3gU7aCC) in the local authority that looks after the child. VSHs are responsible for managing pupil premium funding for looked after children (https://bit.ly/3730fSY).

How Much Money Does The School Receive?

In the 2023 financial year, the pupil premium is:

• £1,455 for each pupil eligible for free school meals or have been eligible in the last 6 years
• £335 for each eligible service child.
• £2530 for each pupil who has been adopted from care or have left care 

IF YOU ARE IN ANY DOUBT IF YOUR CHILD MAY BE ELIGIBLE FOR PUPIL PREMIUM FUNDING PLEASE ASK US!

How Is Pupil Premium Money Spent At Jolesfield?

Our headteacher, Ms Vicky Price is our Pupil Premium lead.  Mrs Liz Carey is our Governor lead.  Below is our three year strategy, which includes a review of our pupil premium spending in 2022 – 2023.  In addition, the Pupil Premium Strategy Focus document attached shows our spending plan, in line with our broader strategy for the current academic year.  Our strategy is kept under constant review to ensure impact is realised.  

We are committed to ensuring each child that has received Pupil Premium money benefits from the funding, regardless of their ability. Given the right learning environment, we believe all pupils can flourish and reach their full potential.

A key objective when deciding how to spend the Pupil Premium Funding is to narrow the gap between pupil groups. We believe a very good way to do this is through targeted support provided through small group tuition, one-to-one support and teachers being able to spend time with pupils as individuals where needed. A large amount of our funding is therefore spent this way.