Pupil Premium Grant
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. The premium is provided to enable these pupils to be supported to reach their potential. The Government has used pupils entitled to free school meals (FSM), looked after children and service children as indicators of deprivation and have 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. This fixed amount of money is expected to increase every year for the course of this current Parliament.
At Kennet Valley 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. We have high aspirations and ambitions for our children and we believe that no child should be left behind. We strongly believe that it is not about where you come from but your passion, thirst for knowledge and your dedication and commitment to learning that make the difference between success and failure. We are determined to ensure that our children are given every chance to realise their full potential.
Our Approach At Kennet Valley
Money has been ring-fenced and used to benefit all pupil premium pupils. We have established clear lines of responsibility with a member of the senior leadership team and a link governor taking responsibility for Pupil Premium.
At Kennet Valley our high proportions of FSM children have meant that our pupil premium money has represented a significant proportion of our budget and we have planned our spending carefully to ensure that it has been spent to maximum effect. This has meant making informed decisions about our spending such as:
- Ensuring that spending is directly linked to gaps in attainment;
- Making use of our own data to expand existing interventions;
- Making sure there is at least good teaching on a day to day basis;
- Making use of research when evaluating interventions and considering the implementation of new interventions.
All staff are aware of areas for development in the school in terms of subjects, year groups and they know which children are focus children. Money is used to benefit all pupil premium children and supports higher as well as lower ability children by extending provision on offer. We have revised our assessment and monitoring systems to support improvement in the quality of teaching and interventions in order to maximise impact.
Since the pupil premium funding was introduced we have seen an improvement in outcomes for our children and we know the 'gap is closing'.