PUPIL PREMIUM
ACHIEVE - LEARN - FLOURISH
The Aspire Learning Federation is made up of two schools - Elm Park Primary School and R J Mitchell Primary School in the London Borough of Havering.
Pupil Premium Spend at R J Mitchell Primary School
What is the Pupil Premium?
The Pupil Premium was introduced in April 2011. It represents additional funding that the government gives to schools for each pupil considered to be ‘disadvantaged’. The money must be spent on these pupils to support their education, but it is for the school to determine how it is spent.
Why does the Government provide a Pupil Premium?
The government believes that poverty or low income is the single most important factor in predicting a child’s future life chances, with many pupils in low income families having low attainment by 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, together with children that have been in care continuously for 6 months or more. Adopted children who have been in care continuously for 6 months or more prior to adoption are also eligible.
What is the Service Premium?
The Service Premium grant is for pupils who have a parent serving in the armed services. Unlike the Pupil Premium, 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?
Applying for Pupil Premium
Although all pupils in years R, 1 and 2 now receive free school meals as part of the Government’s universal school meal provision, this does not mean that any child automatically qualifies for the Pupil Premium. Parents must still apply for free school meals via the Local Council. This is a quick and simple process: please collect and complete a simple form from the school office which can then be submitted the the Local Authority who carry out an eligibility check using the Department for Education’s Eligibility Checking System, this will confirm if details have been matched or not.
It will not tell the Council what benefits you are in receipt of, dates when a benefit was awarded or say how much you receive, it will just confirm whether or not you are eligible. 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 should schools spend the grant?
Schools must spend the grant for the educational benefit of their eligible pupils. The grant can be spent on services that benefit pupils at the school or their families, in the locality in which the school is situated. Pupil Premium grants can be carried forward to the next financial year if all the money is not spent in the year in which it is allocated.
What obligations are placed on the school?
Schools need to monitor the impact of their selected approaches to improve provision for pupils entitled to the Pupil or Service Premium. The Pupil and Service Premium is not ring-fenced and schools are free to spend it as they wish to improve pupils’ attainment.
How are parents informed about the use of the Pupil Premium grants?
The school’s governing body publishes information on the school website every year on Pupil and Service Premium expenditure. For those parents that are not able to access the internet, a paper copy of this information can be provided on request. It details the funding received for the current academic year, as well as details of how it will be spent; there should also be details of how the previous academic year’s allocation was spent.
The sum of money allocated to R J Mitchell is used to impact positively on the performance and outcomes of the children who are targeted by the funding.
We have researched the best practice for the use of Pupil Premium funding as set out by the Sutton Trust Pupil Premium Toolkit:
Please read the information below which gives details of our Pupil Premium Grant and how we allocate the funding.