The Pupil Premium is a government initiative that targets extra money at pupils from deprived backgrounds. Research shows that pupils from deprived backgrounds underachieve compared to their non-deprived peers.
Currently, the premium is worth £1345 and goes to pupils who are currently on Free School Meals (FSM) or have been registered for (FSM) in the past six years, children in care, adopted children and service children also continue to qualify for the Pupil Premium.
The Premium is provided to enable these pupils to be supported. The Government considers the above groups as indicators of deprivation, and has provided a fixed amount of money for schools per pupil based on the number of pupils registered for FSM over a rolling six year period. At Sandhurst Primary School, we will be using the indicator of those eligible for FSM as well as identified vulnerable groups as our target children to ‘close the gap’ regarding attainment.
Sandhurst Primary School: Closing the gap
At Sandhurst Primary School, we are passionate and committed to closing the gap. Our end of Key Stage 2 results for the previous two years, demonstrate that we are successfully closing the gap and our Pupil Premium children achieve above the national average and in line with or better than their peers.
2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 |
£31680 | £36315 | £51110 |
The figures for Pupil Premium Eligibility are taken from the January census. At this time, we had 25% of pupils on roll who were eligible for Pupil Premium Funding. All of these were identified under the Ever6 category, (i.e. in receipt of Free School Meals at any point in the past six years).
Our pupil premium strategy will be reviewed in July every year, with a mid-year budget review in February.
- Attendance and punctuality, transition to KS3
- Pupil Premium Conferencing – including 1:1 Teams calls during periods of school closure
- Resources to meet the individual needs of pupils including Covid catch up
- Quality First Teaching and intervention – training and support e.g. attachment training
- Financial assistance to ensure inclusion and enrichment i.e. Lunch time club, and contributions towards school trips
- Funding to attend Breakfast Club
- Reading incentives i.e. Read and Discover prizes
- Attendance incentives i.e.VIP Bounce afternoons 6 times a year
- Reading Books and Accelerated Reader for all children
- Homework resources
- Help with school uniform
- Forest school provision
Our Pupil Premium Leader conducts the following monitoring over the course of the year.
Half Termly Monitoring | Termly Monitoring |
Book look: Pupil Premium V Non-Pupil Premium | Pupil Premium Conferencing |
Data: in year monitoring of progress of Pupil Premium Children V Non-Pupil Premium Children | Pupil Voice |
Learning walks and class visits | Whole school review of barriers |
During our most recent Pupil Premium Pupil Voice (March 2021), the responses showed the following.
When asked, “What helps you most in school?” the most popular responses were, “Working with the class teacher” and “Working in a small group with the class teacher.”
When asked, “Which activities and techniques help you learn outside lessons?” the most popular responses were “Going on school trips” and “Attending after school clubs” Most children talked about missing friends during ‘lockdown’ periods due to the Covid pandemic.
When asked, “What are your feelings about particular school lessons and activities?” The most overwhelmingly positive responses were attributed to “Forest School and physical exercise.”