Pupil premium is a Government initiative that provides additional funding to schools to close the attainment gaps for disadvantaged pupils and assist with the pastoral needs of children whose parents are in the armed forces or children who are in care. The Government believe that it is unacceptable for children's successes to be determined by their social circumstances. Research shows that disadvantaged pupils underachieve compared to their non-disadvantaged peers and the premium is provided in order to support these children in reaching their potential.
The pupil premium funding is allocated to schools and it is for the schools to decide on the support and provision needs of these children to enable them to diminish the gap with their non-disadvantaged peers. We, as a school, are accountable for ensuring that the additional funding is having a significant impact on the education and lives of our pupils, and publishing information so that all parties are made fully aware of the strategies and interventions we are providing to improve the progress and attainment of our children.
A Pupil Premium Strategy document is written each year to outline the expenditure of the funding and review the effectiveness and impact it has had on the approaches adopted to support our disadvantaged pupils. The action plan identifies the internal and external barriers, the desired outcomes and how they will be measured and the costings and implementation plan of each approach that we have chosen.