Purpose

The Pupil Premium is additional funding for publicly funded schools in England to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and close the gap between them and their peers. Follow the links at the bottom of the page to see the full Pupil Premium Grant reports.

 

Pupil Premium Policy

 

School Aims

Together, the staff and governors aim to provide a safe, happy, caring and well-ordered environment in which learning can take place and where each child is valued as an individual.

We believe in the values of the Gospel: goodness, truth, justice, hope, the love of God and of each other. We show this by respecting and caring for each other. As a Catholic school, we learn about God and His Church. We play together, we learn together and we pray together, especially in the celebration of Mass. We are aware that we are part of a wider world of other faiths and cultures that deserve our respect and understanding. We try our hardest to make sure everyone in our school community is treated with respect, fairness and a sense of belonging.

We aim to ensure that every child leaves St Gildas excited about learning and determined to succeed. We want to equip them with confidence, resilience and a passion for justice and equality. These qualities will enable them to thrive and to champion kindness and fairness at all stages of their future lives.

The targeted and strategic use of Pupil Premium funding will support us in achieving our aims.

 

Equality Statement

In support of our Mission Statement, we are committed to advancing equality of opportunity and fostering good relations between people from different groups and to eliminating unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation.

When implementing this policy, we will take account of the racial, cultural and religious backgrounds of our children, those with disabilities which affect behaviour and those with other relevant protected characteristics.

 

Principles

• We ensure that teaching and learning opportunities meet the needs of all pupils.
• We ensure that appropriate provision is made for pupils who belong to vulnerable groups. This specifically includes ensuring that the needs of socially disadvantaged pupils are addressed.
• In making provision for socially disadvantaged pupils, we recognise that not all pupils who are eligible for free school meals, (or have been eligible in the last 6 years) are socially disadvantaged.
• We also recognise that not all pupils who are socially disadvantaged are registered or qualify for free school meals. We therefore reserve the right to allocate Pupil Premium funding to support any pupil or groups of pupils that the school has legitimately identified as being socially disadvantaged.

Pupil Premium funding will be allocated following annual needs analyses which will identify priority groups and individuals.

 

Provision

We have a range of provision in place to support children who belong to vulnerable groups, including those who are socially disadvantaged. This provision has the full support of the Governing Body and includes:

• Providing small group work with an experienced teacher focussed on overcoming gaps in learning.
• 1-1 support.
• Additional teaching and learning opportunities provided by teachers, TAs or external agencies.
• Additional support for assessments, training and advice from specialists such as speech therapists, educational psychologists etc.
• Access to therapeutic interventions and advice.
• Paying for activities that broaden the curriculum.

All our work funded by the Pupil Premium will be aimed at accelerating progress so that the vast majority of children leave St Gildas at, or above, the national average. We also aim for every child to make progress that is good or better. Pupil premium resources may also be used to target able children on FSM to achieve higher levels of attainment.

The SENCO, in conjunction with the Assistant Headteacher, will maintain an ongoing programme of support for socially disadvantaged pupils, which will be subject to oversight from the Governors’ Education & Welfare Committee.

 

Reporting

The Headteacher will produce annual reports for the Governing Body on:

• the progress made towards narrowing the gap, by year group, for socially disadvantaged pupils.
• an outline of the provision.
• an evaluation of the cost effectiveness, in terms of the progress made by the pupils receiving a particular provision, when compared with other forms of support.

The Governors of the school will ensure that there is an annual statement to parents and carers on how the Pupil Premium funding has been used to address the issue of ‘narrowing the gap’, for socially disadvantaged pupils. This statement will be published on the schools website.

 

Appeal

Any appeals against this policy will be through the Governors’ complaints procedure.