The Government believes that the Pupil Premium, which is an allocation of additional funding (to main Academy funding), is the best way to support specific groups of children who are vulnerable to possible underachievement and to address the gap in their educational attainment.
These include children:
- who have been eligible for free school meals (FSM) at some point in the last six years;
- who have been in care for more than six months (CLA);
- whose parents are currently employed by the armed services.
Nationally, the statistics show that pupils who are in receipt of FSM, do less well than their peers in exams, for example: SATs. All schools are therefore required to report on the amount of funding received and how this is being used; alongside the impact of the funding, once available.
Principles for supporting pupils in receipt of Pupil Premium Funding:
- We organise teaching and learning at DLA in order to meet the needs of all children in the best way.
- We ensure that appropriate provision is made for children who belong to vulnerable groups and that socially disadvantaged children have their needs adequately assessed and met.
- We recognise that not all children who receive free school meals will be socially disadvantaged and we also recognise that not all children that are disadvantaged have free school meals.
- We allocate Pupil Premium funding to support any child the school has identified as being socially disadvantaged and should be making better progress. However, throughout the year, all disadvantaged pupils will benefit from the funding.
- We will allocate Pupil Premium funding after a needs analysis