Pupil Premium
At Willesborough Infant School we are committed to diminishing the difference and improving academic achievement and outcomes for disadvantaged pupils
Click her to view our Pupil Premium and Recovery Strategy 2021/2
Pupil Premium
Introduced in 2011, the pupil premium is a sum of money given to schools each year by the Government to improve the attainment of children who may be at a disadvantage.
The pupil premium funding is intended to directly benefit the children who are eligible. A child who has received ‘Income and credit based Free School Meals’ within the last 6 years or a child who has been looked after under local authority care for more than one day, will be given pupil premium funding. It can also be received for a child whose parent works within the armed forces.
Income and credit based Free School Meals eligibility criteria:
- Universal Credit (with an annual net earned income of no more than £7,400
- Income Support
- Income-related Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- Guaranteed element of Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit (without Working Tax Credit) and an annual gross income of no more than £16,190
Or
- A child who is in or was once in the care system for a day or more
- A child who is adopted
- You work in the Armed services or TA now or within the last 5 years
‘Free School Meals’
There are two types of free school meals available from the government:
- Universal Free School Meals (UFSM) entitles every child in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 to a “free school meal”. It is not income based and all children in those year groups can receive them.
- Income and Credit Based Free School Meals is linked to your income and any credits or benefits you may be receiving. Children from Foundation stage to year 11 are eligible. You may be entitled to this if you meet the eligibility criteria.
So… what does it all mean for an Infant school?
Children at Willesborough Infant School all receive a universal free school meal. However if you met the eligibility criteria for Income and Credit Based Free School Meals in Foundation stage, Year 1 and 2 your child’s school will also receive £1,320 each year, for the next 6 years. The pupil premium that the school receives for your child will directly benefit their education. All schools produce a statement about how their pupil premium funding is spent each year and the impact that it has. Schools must work with disadvantaged pupils to ‘diminish the difference’.
|
Year |
Amount of Pupil Premium allocated to Willesborough Infant school |
|
2014 |
£117,838 |
|
2015 |
£91,800 |
|
2016 |
£72,600 |
|
2017 |
£69,960 |
| 2018 |
£74,028 |
| 2019 |
£68,300 |
| 2020 |
£80,375 |
How much do we get allocated?
Each year in October a main school census is taken.
Children marked as entitled to a ‘Income and Credit Based Free School Meal’ at this time or within the last 6 years will be allocated a Pupil Premium. This is paid directly to the school and will be used to directly benefit the education of Pupil Premium children. The school can spend the Pupil Premium in many different ways to ‘diminish the difference’ based on barriers they have identified and outlined in their strategy statement.
How can I help my child to receive Pupil Premium?
When your child is offered a place at Willesborough Infant school you are given a Pupil Premium eligibility form as part of the admissions pack.
When given back to the school, it is used to find out if your child is entitled to Pupil Premium. If your circumstances change at any point in your child's education and you think your child is eligible for Pupil Premium you can fill in the form, give it to school and have your eligibility assessed. Please ask in the school office for a Pupil Premium eligibility form or alternatively, you can print off the form below and hand it into the school office.
Some of the exciting ways we use our Pupil Premium
We have created a scrap-booking session where families come together with their children to share their learning, hobbies and interests. The aim of the sessions are to provide focused time together in school that support good well-being, involvement and aspiration for learning. Families who attend, create a scrapbook together. Parents and carers take the time to feed back to their child about their learning and achievement. They discuss their child's next steps, targets or learning goals. Each session is different and is improved every time because of the positive feedback we enjoy from parents and children. Our 'longest serving scrap-bookers' are now in year seven! They had a whole book of achievement to take home last summer. A treasure to keep forever!
And since Covid restrictions have lifted, we have wasted no time in holding our first big scrap booking event for nearly two years. More than 80 families attended!
As a whole school team, we take responsibility for all children achieving the best possible outcomes in their reading, writing and maths. As well as teachers and teaching assistants, the assistant headteachers and executive headteacher support children with their reading development on a daily basis. They were very excited to lead 'Amazing Me!' conferencing this term; discussing the children's achievements and next steps. Celebrating achievement! Our teachers have created provision for additional reading before and after the school day, including our 'Books and Bites', ‘Bonus Books’, 'Bonus Breakfast' and ‘Funky Phonics’ clubs.
We have created communication and language enrichment opportunities across the school to improve oracy and speaking skills. Children in EYFS have attended ‘grub club’ where they are able to try tasting and cooking with new foods linked to a high quality text. This experience is followed by a series of ‘wonderful world’ sessions where the children are able to have ‘hands on’ experience of the world around them by growing plants, creating bird feeders, digging for vegetables and much more. Some children receive regular visits from our specialist speech and language teaching assistant who joins their ‘child initiated’ sessions to scaffold and support their language development as well as providing small group sessions. Within key stage one the children take part in ‘thoughtful talking’ sessions daily. This is a carefully planned program which gives the children the opportunity to build their oracy skills, enrich and widen their vocabulary and listen to others whilst taking part in thought provoking discussions.
We provide extra learning support for all pupils throughout their learning journey with us. Every child shines through 'In the Spotlight' , teachers carefully plan and deliver precise teaching programmes and support to meet individual and group needs. Provision maps are in place for pupil premium children, focusing on SMART accelerated progress.
We have created a range of engaging ‘Willesborough walks’ for children to share with their families. These sessions help the children to strengthen their scientific enquiry skills, local history knowledge and further develop their language. In these sessions, parents and their child will undertake all kinds of fun activities such as scavenger hunts, observational sketching and designing their very own windmill. Over the three sessions we visit the local woods to see the bluebells, experience a guided tour of the local windmill and search for wildlife along the river! These sessions are an excellent opportunity for families to share outdoor learning experiences together. Within EYFS children can attend ‘Thursday Funday’ sessions with their parents. In these regular sessions there are a range of different activities linked to our safeguarding curriculum and the opportunity to connect with the school SENCO, FLO, teachers and senior leaders. We offer many different opportunities and experiences for all our children, ensuring each year group has a learning event for parents and children to take part together in each term. The children have school trips and visits from inspiring individuals throughout the year.
We provide additional advice and support to improve attendance for our pupil premium children. We have regular meetings in school and invite parents in to provide help and support with their child's attendance. We provide strong incentives for the children to attend school everyday and create opportunities for parents and children to attend sessions in school together.
What could Pupil Premium look like for my child?
