WHAT IS PUPIL PREMIUM?

The Government gives an additional Pupil Premium grant to schools, which is additional to main school funding. This is given as a way to address current underlying inequalities between ‘disadvantaged’ pupils and their ‘advantaged’ peers. ‘Disadvantaged’ describes pupils eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) / those who have been eligible in the past six years, or children who have been in care at some point in their lives.

Schools are free to spend the Pupil Premium as they see fit. However, we are held accountable for how we have used the additional funding to support pupils from low-income families.

The level of Pupil Premium set for 2023 - 2024 by the government was £1,345 per pupil.

CONTEXT OF THE SCHOOL

Fernvale Primary School has approximately 336 pupils, in 12 classes and ranges from Foundation Stage to Y6. We are a Leicestershire school but extremely close to the Leicester City boundary and a proportion of children (approx. 33%) come from out of our catchment area, this is however now predicted to decrease due to the new houses in the area. 

Our school community is diverse in social and cultural terms and 58 of our pupils (17%) are in receipt of Pupil Premium. 

At Fernvale, we believe that children are entitled to a Primary education that offers quality, breadth of experience, the standard of excellence, and a sense of community.

OBJECTIVES OF PUPIL PREMIUM EXPENDITURE

The government believes that the Pupil Premium, which is additional to main school funding, is the best way to address the current underlying inequalities between children eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) and their peers.

Our key objective at Fernvale Primary School is to use the Pupil Premium grant to ensure that all pupils' reach the end of KS2 national expectations.

 Here are some of the ways the funding is used at our school:

• Quality First Teaching for English and maths
• After school booster classes to promote literacy and maths skills for Year 6 pupils
• 50% support towards the cost of Residential trips and school visits
• School milk scheme
• ELSA support
• 50% support for music lessons.
• 50% support for sports clubs and the before and after school club 

KEY PRINCIPLES

Building Belief: We will provide a culture where: staff believe in ALL children, there are “no excuses” made for underperformance, staff adopt a “solution-focused” approach to overcoming barriers, staff support children to develop “growth” mind-sets towards learning.

Analysing Data we will ensure that: All staff are involved in the analysis of data so that they are fully aware of strengths and weaknesses across the school. We use research (Such as the EEF Toolkit) to support us in determining the strategies that will be most effective.  

Identification of Pupils we will ensure that: ALL teaching staff and support staff are involved in analysis of data and identification of pupils. ALL staff are aware of who pupil premium and vulnerable children are. ALL pupil premium children benefit from the funding, not just those who are underperforming. Underachievement at all levels is targeted (not just lower attaining pupils). Children’s individual needs are considered carefully so that we provide support for those children who could be doing “even better if…..”

Improving Day to Day Teaching: We will continue to ensure that all children across the school receive good teaching, with increasing percentages of outstanding teaching achieved by using our team leaders to: Set high expectations. Address any within-school variance. Ensure consistent implementation of the non-negotiable, e.g. marking and guided reading. Share good practice within the school and draw on external expertise. Provide high quality CPD. Improve assessment through joint levelling and moderation.

Increasing learning time: We will maximise the time children have to “keep up” through: Improving attendance