What is Pupil Premium?

Pupil Premium funding is additional funding which is allocated to schools across England, with the central focus upon raising the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and closing the gaps between them and their peers.

Children who are eligible for this funding are those who have been eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) since Summer 2009 through the Ever 6 program, as well as those who are, or have been, a Looked After Child.

The amount of money that the Academy receives for a school year is based upon the number of pupils who meet the above criteria at the time of the January Census.

Why has Pupil Premium been Introduced?

The Government believes that the Pupil Premium, which is additional to main school funding, is the best way to address the current underlying inequalities between children eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) and their wealthier peers by ensuring that funding to tackle disadvantage reaches the pupils who need it most. Whilst schools are free to spend the Pupil Premium as they see fit, we are required to publish online information about how we have used the Premium.

At the heart of the school’s ambitions, there is a strong desire and passion to support disadvantaged pupils with both their academic and social needs. Through the receipt of this funding, we will ensure that:

• Teaching and learning meets the needs of all pupils.
• Appropriate support and resources are available to aid disadvantaged pupils with achieving to their highest across the curriculum, closing the attainment gaps with their peers as a result.
• Disadvantaged pupils are provided with the tools to be able to fully access each area of the curriculum.
• Effective social and emotional support is provided to assist the well-being of children.

How we use the funding

As part of our vision and aims, Pupil Premium funding in school is currently being allocated to the following things:

• Quality first teaching
• Fidelity to a validated phonics scheme (Little Wandle).
• Appropriate development of teaching and support staff.
• Nurture provision in KS1 and KS2.
• Additional teaching and support staff allocated to year groups with significant numbers of disadvantaged pupils.
• Speech and language interventions such as Talk Boost.
• Family support worker used to engage with and support families.
• Providing enrichment opportunities.

Key Principles for using Pupil Premium:

• 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 improving mathematics, reading, and writing – or, re-deploy support teachers who have a strong track record of 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 has worked.
• The Academy ensures that the Pupil Premium leader, Principal, Head of Academy and Governors, have a clear overview of how the funding is being allocated, and the impact this has on pupil’s performance every term.
• The Academy 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, external factors, professional INSET or disadvantaged pupils, effective teaching and learning, nurture provision, attachment, advice and guidance, literacy support, targeted support and further enrichment.