Pupil Premium
Principles
All members of staff and governors accept responsibility for ‘socially disadvantaged’ pupils and are committed to meeting their pastoral, social and academic needs within a caring special school environment. This is an essential, integral part of the supportive ethos of the whole school community.
As with every child in our care, a child who is considered to be ‘socially disadvantaged’ is valued, respected and entitled to develop to their full potential, irrespective of need.
Background
The pupil premium is a Government initiative that targets extra money at pupils from deprived backgrounds, which research shows underachieve compared to their non-deprived peers. The premium is provided in order to support these pupils in reaching their potential. It is in addition to any funding the pupil may receive to support their special educational needs.
The Government have used pupils entitled to Free School meals as an indicator for deprivation, and have deployed a fixed amount of money to schools per pupil, based on the number of pupils registered for Free School meals. This fixed amount of money will increase every year of the course of this current Parliament. At Netherfield CEP School we will be using the indicator of those eligible for Free School meals as our target children to ‘narrow the gap’ regarding attainment.
The Government are not dictating how schools should spend this money, but are clear that schools will need to employ the strategies that they know will support their pupils to increase their attainment, and ‘narrow the gap’. Schools will be accountable for narrowing the gap, and there is a planned reform to the school performance tables to include new measures that show the attainment of pupils who receive the pupil premium compare with their peers.
Provision
In order to meet the above requirements, the Governing Body of Netherfield CEP school will ensure that provision is made which secures the teaching and learning opportunities that meet the needs of all pupils. Our priority will be to focus on ‘narrowing the gap’ for those pupils not on track to achieve the individual targets set for them.
As part of the additional provision made for pupils who belong to vulnerable groups, the Governors of the school will ensure that the needs of socially disadvantaged pupils are adequately assessed and addressed through termly pupil progress meetings, and planned and recorded intervention strategies.
In making provision for socially disadvantaged pupils, the Governors of the school recognise that not all pupils who receive free school meals will be socially disadvantaged.
The Governors also recognise that not all pupils who are socially disadvantaged are registered or qualify for free school meals. The Governors reserve the right to allocate the Pupil Premium funding to support any pupil, or groups of pupils the school has legitimately identified as being socially disadvantaged or vulnerable pupils.
The range of provision:
- Facilitating pupils’ access to education
- Facilitating pupils' access to broader curriculum opportunities
- Additional teaching and learning opportunities
- Alternative support and intervention
Success Criteria
The evaluation of this policy is based on how quickly the school can ‘narrow the gap’ between socially disadvantaged pupils and their peers. Targets will be identified and evaluated annually and included in the School Development Plan.
The success criteria for the Pupil Premium Policy are:
- Early intervention and support for socially disadvantaged children
- The vast majority of socially disadvantaged children will meet their individual targets.
- Effective parental pupil school support.
- Having an effective system for identifying, assessing and monitoring pupils.
- Having a whole-school approach.
- Create a positive school atmosphere in which pupils’ differences are recognised and valued as full members of the school community; developing confident and independent learners.
Appeals
Any appeal in connection with the disposition of the pupil premium funding will be dealt with through the Governors’ appeals panel.