Pupil Premium
What is the Pupil Premium?
Pupil Premium is an allocation of funding that is given to us by the government to support children who may be vulnerable to under-achievement. The amount we receive is based on the number of children that we have who are entitled to Free School Meals (FSM) or who are ‘Children in Care’ (CIC). We receive the equivalent of £1320 for every child who is currently in receipt of Free School Meals plus some additional funding that is based on the number of children who have had Free School Meals in the past 6 years but are no longer eligible. As a school, we have a responsibility to report on the progress of children receiving pupil premium; demonstrate how we are using the Pupil Premium Grant (PPG) and the impact that it is having on children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Our Aim
To ensure that children from disadvantaged backgrounds (FSM/CIC) are able to make the same progress as, or better progress, than their peers.
Free School Meals and the Pupil Premium
Parents can check eligibility for free school meals through Medway Council:
https://www.medway.gov.uk/info/200164/school_information/354/free_school_meals
If eligible, you are not obliged to accept the free school meals for your child if you wish to make other arrangements, but we do want to encourage applications as the additional funding gained would still benefit education provision at the school.
What the service does for parents:
After entering essential details into the website, the online application process links to the Department for Education system for checking eligibility and gives an immediate ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response, and will notify the school.
This system is being provided to encourage parents to apply and take advantage of free school meals while at the same time increasing the benefit to schools from Pupil Premium funding, a substantial amount of which does not reach schools because not all parents who are eligible apply for free meals for their child.
What the service does for schools:
As the government has now introduced free school meals for all children in Key Stage 1, it is more important than ever for schools to know the number of pupils for whom they can claim Pupil Premium funding. These funds enable schools to take on additional staff and invest in additional equipment, resources and activities to the benefit all children.
To check if your child is eligible for Pupil Premium, please visit -
https://www.medway.gov.uk/info/200164/school_information/354/free_school_meals