Pupil Premium at The Ridgeway Primary School

 

At The Ridgeway Primary School, we have high aspirations and ambitions for our children and we strongly believe that no child should be left behind, academically or socially.  Our school vision is for all pupils to succeed and to contribute to society, regardless of their socio-economic background.  We are determined that all children will be given every opportunity to achieve their potential and we use pupil premium funding, alongside allocations from the school budget, to ensure that pupils are supported to achieve.

 

Is my child eligible for pupil premium funding?

 

If your child is now or has ever been eligible for Free School Meals because your family were on a low income or in receipt of certain benefits, then your child will be eligible for pupil premium grant funding for a minimum of 6 years.  Although all pupils in Reception and Years 1 and 2 receive a free meal at school, this is not the same as Free School Meals which parents/carers must apply for.  If you believe that your family may be eligible for Free School Meals because you or your partner are on a low income or in receipt of certain benefits, please ask the school office for an application form.  

 

Pupils who have previously been 'looked after' by the Local Authority - in other words have been in foster care at all, even for a day - are also eligible for pupil premium grant funding, as are pupils who are now adopted or who are living with a family member or carer under a Special Guardianship Order (SGO).  

 

How much is the pupil premium grant?

 

This year (2020 - 2021) the pupil premium grant for each child eligible due to having had Free School Meals is £1,345 and the grant for each child eligible due to having ever been 'looked after' is £2,345.

 

Information to be published for parents

 

For the current academic year, we must publish:

• our school's pupil premium allocation
• a summary of the main barriers to educatoinal achievement faced by eligible pupils
• how the pupil premium allocation will be spent and why we have chosen to spend the money in this way
• how we will measure the impact of pupil premium spending
• when we will next review our pupil premium strategy

 

For the previous academic year, we must publish:

• details of how we spent our pupil premium allocation
• information about the impact this had on eligible and other pupils

 

Usually, information on how the grant has been spent over the academic year is published by April each year, but due to the early closure of schools due to lockdown, the Department for Education has issued guidance stating that schools should monitor and report on the grant's impact at the end of the 2020/2021 financial year, in April 2021.  However, schools must produce a strategy statement which includes spending plans for the current academic year.  The Pupil Premium Grant Strategy Plan for the current  year, from April 2020 to April 2021, can be found below.

 

 

Pupil Premium Spending

 

As outlined in the report, the money the school receives for each child eligible for pupil premium grant funding is spent in a variety of ways, as outlined in the report.  Some of the ways in which the school spends its allocation of grant funding are:

• additional adult support for pupils in lessons
• small group and 1:1 tuition, delivered by a classteacher
• training and support for classroom staff to ensure the strategies they use are effective in securing successful outcomes for all pupils but particularly for disadvantaged pupils
• subsidised school uniform, trips and visits for eligible pupils
• subsidised extra-curricular opportunities, for example for pupils to access clubs for which payment is required, such as Rocksteady or Premier sports clubs

 

This is not a complete list - further information can be found in the strategy plan, above.

 

Catch-up funding

 

This academic year, due to the impact of the Covid pandemic on children's education, all schools will receive additional 'catch-up' funding with which they are expected to close gaps in pupil attainment and progress.  Our provisional allocation for this academic year is £32,720 and we will use this money to fund an experienced teacher to deliver additional support and 'booster' lessons to pupils across the school every afternoon.  Pupils receiving support through this funding will be carefully chosen and their progress will be closely monitored so that we can review and evaluate the impact of this provision and make changes if necessary.  

 

Additional information about how pupil premium grant funding is spent in school can be found below, alongside information about the 'catch-up' funding that the government have allocated for this year.