The Pupil Premium was introduced in April 2011. It was allocated to children from low-income families who were known to be eligible for free school meals in both mainstream and non-mainstream settings, and children who had been looked after continuously for more than six months.
Schools are free to spend the Pupil Premium as they see fit. However, they are responsible for how they use the additional funding to support pupils from low-income families and the other target groups. Those from disadvantaged backgrounds often do not do as well as their more advantaged peers and the funds are aimed at helping to bridge the gap. This money is allocated to initiatives to ensure pupils reach their full potential, both academically and socially.
If your child does not have Free School Meals but may be eligible because of your family’s income level, please contact the office (in confidence) to register them. Even if you do not wish them to have the meals, this would mean the school could still claim Pupil Premium funding that may be used to help your child.
Check your eligibility and apply for free school meals using the link below
Click here to access the Coventry Council website to see if you are eligible for Free School Meals.
What is the Pupil Premium?
The Pupil Premium is government money designed to help disadvantaged children and young people do well at school. The funding is allocated to school for children from Reception to Year 11 who have registered for free school meals in the last six years.
How is it spent?
The government allow schools to decide how to use the funding, as they are best placed to access what additional provision their pupils need. Some children may already be doing well in reading, writing and maths, but there may be things we can do to stretch them further, to help them aim high, or build their confidence. Some children may need financial help so they can take part in trips and activities. If children are behind in reading, writing or maths we may arrange for them to have special small groups, or one-to-one teaching. We call these ‘intervention programmes’. We choose the classroom approaches and intervention programmes that research shows work. We spend some of the money on training staff to make sure they are up to date with the latest knowledge about what works well for disadvantaged children. How much parents and carers get involved with their children makes a very big difference to how well they do at school. So we also spend some of the money on activities that help keep you informed about their targets, and confident in knowing how to support their learning.
How will we know if it is working?
We track all children’s progress each term, so we can quickly see if plans are working. If your child takes part in an intervention programme, we will also measure how well they are doing at the start of the programme, and the end, so we can see the difference. We will report to you at parents’ evenings, but if you would like information on your child’s progress at any time please do speak to their class teacher.
Please see the Pupil Premium document for details of barriers to learning, how Pupil Premium has been spent and the evidence of impact.