Why is there a pupil premium?

Pupils who have been eligible for Free School Meals at any point in their school career have consistently lower educational attainment than those who have never been eligible.

How many pupils at Maple Court Academy are eligible for the Pupil Premium?

Currently 62.8% of pupils at Maple Court Academy are eligible for the Pupil Premium.

Who can apply for Pupil Premium Funding?

Schools are given a pupil premium for:

• Children who have qualified for free school meals at any point in the past six years. The school receives £1320 for each of these children.
• Children who are or have been looked after under local authority care for more than one day. These children are awarded a premium of £2300.
• Children from service families who receive a child pension from the Ministry of Defence. They are awarded £300.

How will the impact of the spending of the Pupil Premium be measured?

Maple Court Academy demonstrates unwavering commitment to closing the attainment gap. We target interventions forensically and have robust tracking systems in place to establish what is making a difference and what is not.
To monitor progress on attainment, measures will be included in the performance tables that will capture the achievement of pupils covered by the Pupil Premium. At Maple Court Academy, the usual cycle of data collection and the monitoring and tracking of the cohort’s attainment, will be used to inform student progress and enable the early identification of need, support and appropriate intervention.

Can your child get the Pupil Premium?

If you think that you may be entitled to receive Pupil Premium funding or if you have any questions, please contact the school office.

Key principles for using Pupil Premium 2020 – 2021

• Maple Court Academy carefully ring-fences the funding at the beginning of the academic year so that it is spent on a targeted group of pupils.
• Maple Court Academy never confuses eligibility for the pupil premium with low ability, and focuses on supporting our disadvantaged pupils to achieve the highest levels.
• Maple Court Academy thoroughly analyses which pupils are underachieving, particularly in Reading, Writing and Mathematics and why.
• Maple Court Academy draws upon evidence from our own and others’ experience to allocate the funding to the activities that are most likely to have an impact on improving achievement.
• We allocate our best teachers to teach intervention groups to improve Mathematics, Reading and Writing, or re-deploy support teachers who have a good track record in raising attainment in these subjects.
• The Academy uses achievement data frequently to check whether interventions or techniques are working and make adjustments accordingly, rather than using the data retrospectively to see if something had worked.
• The Academy ensures that a designated senior leader, an Assistant Principal, plus the Principal and Governors, have a clear overview of how the funding is being allocated and the difference it is making to the outcomes for pupils termly.
• The Academy also ensures that class teachers know which pupils are eligible for the pupil premium so that they can take responsibility for accelerating their progress.
• The projects that we have set up are to tackle a range of issues, e.g. attendance, behaviour, factors outside school, professional INSET on disadvantaged pupils, effective teaching and learning, nurture provision, attachment, advice and guidance, literacy support, targeted support and further enrichment.