Pupil Premium

Introduced in 2011, the pupil premium is a sum of money given to schools each year by the Government to improve the attainment of disadvantaged children.

This is based on research showing that children from low income families perform less well at school than their peers.

Often, children who are entitled to pupil premium face challenges such as poor language and communication skills, lack of confidence and issues with attendance and punctuality.The pupil premium is intended to directly benefit the children who are eligible, helping to narrow the gap between them and their classmates.

Is Your Child Eligible?

Primary schools are given a pupil premium for:

Children in Reception to Year 6 who are currently entitled to free school meals based on their family income: £1385 per pupil, per school year
Children in Reception to Year 6 who were previously entitled to benefits-based free school meals, even if they're no longer eligible: £1385 per pupil, per school year, for six years after they stopped qualifying for free school meals
Children in care: £2345 per pupil, per school year
Children previously in care who have been adopted, or who have a special guardianship order, a child arrangements order or a residence order: £2410 per pupil, per school year
Children recorded as being from service families: £320 per pupil, per school year

How to Claim Your Child's Pupil Premium

All children who currently qualify for free school meals based on their family circumstances are entitled to pupil premium. This applies if you receive any of the following benefits:

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)
Income support
Income-based jobseekers’ allowance
Income-related employment and support allowance
Support under Part IV of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
The guaranteed element of state pension credit
Child tax credit, provided that you are not also entitled to working tax credit and have an annual gross income of £16,190 or less
Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

Children who are or have been in care, and children who have a parent who is or was in the armed forces, are also entitled to pupil premium.

In addition, pupils who have qualified for free school meals on the above grounds in the past, but are no longer eligible, continue to receive pupil premium for the next six years.

Schools are responsible for recording the children who are eligible for pupil premium in their annual school census - you don't have to do anything yourself, other than making sure you return any paperwork that relates to the benefits you receive or your child's entitlement to free school meals.

If your child qualifies for free school meals or has at any point in the past six years, it’s important that you notify school – even if they're in Reception or KS1 and receive universal school meals for infant pupils, or are in KS2 and take a packed lunch – as this enables us to claim pupil premium.

Pupil Premium Strategy

Pupil Premium: funding and accountability for schools

At St Mary and St Andrew’s, because of the relatively low numbers of pupils identified, and the diverse needs of the group we regularly review and personalise our offer. Through the cycle of teaching & learning and vitally knowing our children as individuals, we identify any barriers to learning and develop strategies to help them overcome these. The impact of our interventions is analysed so that we can then adapt our practice.

We have high aspirations and ambitions for all our children and firmly believe that we enhance the academic, personal, social and spiritual growth of each child. As such we believe in improving provision across the curriculum to help children achieve their full potential.

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