The Pupil Premium is additional funding given to schools so that they can support specific groups of children who are vulnerable to possible underachievement.
It was introduced in September 2011 and is now allocated to schools based on the number of pupils who have been registered for free school meals at any point in the previous six years. Schools also receive funding based on the number of pupils they have who have been in the care of the Local Authority continuously for more than six months, and also for any service personnel children who attend the school.
The Government believes that school leaders should decide how to use the Pupil Premium to ‘close the attainment gap’. All schools are required to report on the amount of funding received and how this is being used.
Some of the strategies used in St Mary’s and funded by Pupil Premium are:
To provide short-term intervention programmes to support and quicken the progress of underachieving pupils
To provide one-to-one tuition, small group focused work and mentoring for some pupils.
The provision of services designed to enhance the progress of potentially under-achieving pupils, such as the implementation of evidence based initiatives in literacy and numeracy.
Financial Assistance for pupils attending residential and educational trips.
For detailed information of annual expenditure and the impact of these strategies please refer to the document below.
Catch up Funding
The government announced £1 billion of funding to support children and young people to catch up lost time after school closure. This is especially important for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged backgrounds.
School allocations are based on a per pupil basis. We can use this funding for specific activities to support their pupils to catch up for lost teaching over the previous months.
The school’s leadership and governing body have decided that the Catch-Up Premium is going to be spent on a range of interventions to support identified children, and as progress is made these interventions may change.small group and one to one tuition. As this budget is limited, we have also decided to support catch-up with our own funding of the purchase of new technology and software. Pupils will be able to use these at home and school to support reading and other learning. Additional funding will come from the school’s main budget.
For detailed information of annual expenditure and the impact of these strategies please refer to the document below.
Pupil Premium Statement
Poverty Proofing Audit - Beacon School
In the Spring of 2023 Children North East completed a Poverty Proofing Audit of St Mary's, looking at how the school supports vulnerable children and families within our community that are impacted upon by poverty in all its forms. As a result we were recognised as a beacon school with excellent practice supporting children and families within our school community.
The report below highlights our practice and the many ways in which we support ourschool and wider community.