Pupil Premium Funding 2023-2024
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The Government allocates an amount of money to schools to support the most vulnerable children. This is known as Pupil Premium funding. The Government states ‘additional funding is given to publicly funded schools in England to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and close the gap between them and their peers.’ At St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, we believe that all children have the right to a quality education which includes a range of experiences. We aim to close the disadvantage gap by addrressing inequalities and raising the attainment of those students in low-income families.
Schools are able to choose how to spend the Pupil Premium Funding. "...It is not a personal budget for individual children and schools must spend their funding in line with the 'menu of approaches'." For further information, click here. Schools also have a legal responsibility to report on the impact this additional funding is having on diminishing the difference in attainment between those receiving the funding and those who are not. The impact of expenditure can be measured in many different ways.
The review of the pupil premium strategy is updated and reported in Term 2 each year.
Is your child eligible for Pupil Premium Funding?
Pupil Premium funding is extra money given to the school to support your child’s education. There are several reasons children can be eligible:
If a family receives any of the following, you can apply for Free School Meals. (You still need to do this even though children are currently entitled to Free School Meals throughout Reception and Key Stage 1 – they only get the Pupil Premium Funding if your Free School Meals application is successful.)
https://www.swindon.gov.uk/info/20032/schools_and_education/408/free_school_meals
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- the guaranteed element of Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
- Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
- Universal Credit - if you apply on or after 1 April 2018 your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)
Your child may also be entitled to Pupil Premium Funding if they:
- are currently looked after in the care of an English local authority.
- have been adopted from a local authority in England or Wales.
- have a parent in the armed force.
What is Pupil Premium funding?
Pupil Premium gives schools extra funding to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils from Reception to Year 6. Children are eligible for Pupil Premium Funding if they have received Free School Meals at any time in the past six years. (This does not apply to all Key Stage 1 children eligible for Universal Free School Meals.) Additionally, Pupil Premium Funding is available for children who are in currently in care or who have been adopted from being in care in England and Wales. Children with parents in the armed forces are also eligible.
Pupil Premium allocation for 2024-2025 is £47, 210.
Strategy for Pupil Premium
PDF Pupil Premium Strategy Statement 2023-2024
“Schools will have the freedom to spend the Premium, which is additional to the underlying schools budget, in a way they think will best support the raising of attainment for the most vulnerable pupils”. (DFE website)
Pupil Premium Contacts
If you have any questions then please speak to one of the following staff:
Mrs Brown: Headteacher head@st-marys.swindon.sch.uk
Mrs Henstridge : Pupil Premium Lead lhenstridge@st-marys.swindon.sch.uk
Mrs Warwick : School Counsellor awarwick@st-marys.swindon.sch.uk