Pupil Premium
What Is Pupil Premium?
Pupil premium is funding to improve education outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in schools in England. Evidence shows that disadvantaged children generally face additional challenges in reaching their potential at school and often do not perform as well as other pupils.
This table shows how pupil premium funding is allocated to schools and local authorities. Allocations are provided on a financial year basis, based on pupil eligibility rates.
Pupil eligibility criteria | Amount of funding for each primary-aged pupil per year | Amount of funding for each secondary-aged pupil per year | Funding is paid to |
Pupils who are eligible for free school meals, or have been eligible in the past 6 years (including eligible children of families with no recourse to public funds) | £1,385 | £985 | School |
Pupils who have been adopted from care or have left care | £2,410 | £2,410 | School |
Children who are looked after by the local authority | £2,410 | £2,410 | Local authority |
Looked after children are those who are in the care of local authorities. Pupil Premium Plus is paid for these pupils by the Local Authority to the School, once it has been agreed which parts of the pupil’s Personal Education Plan (PEP) will be paid for from the Pupil Premium budget.
Service Pupil Premium (SPP) is provided for pupils from families who are serving or who have served in the armed forces. SPP is not connected to disadvantage. It’s paid with the pupil premium.
Further information regarding pupil premium can be found on the Government website below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium/pupil-premium
Why do we need to decrease the attainment gap for disadvantaged children?
Research evidence shows that children who are disadvantaged can experience a range of challenging social and economic conditions that include:
- Living in overcrowded or inhabitable living conditions that can negatively affect personal and cognitive development
- Unable to access basic nutritional items such as fruit and vegetables that are critical for healthy brain development
- Greater exposure to unhealthy lifestyles such as drinking and smoking
- Insecure attachment that leads to pupils having negative views about themselves that leads to worse resilience, behavioural problems and poor school attendance.
- Adverse childhood experiences that can act as a barrier to concentration and learning
- Less opportunity to partake in enrichment opportunities and academic support such home computers and tuition
- May come from families that underestimate the impact they have on their child’s development and therefore learning leading to lower career aspirations
- As a result of this, disadvantaged pupils are 18 months to 2 years behind non-disadvantaged children by the time they sit their GCSEs; are four times as likely to have mental health difficulties and over a quarter of pupils eligible for free school meals are identified with special educational needs
Pupil Premium spending at Marjorie McClure School
At Marjorie McClure School we are committed to closing this attainment gap that exists as we strongly believe that no child should be held back from the circumstances that life has put them in. As recommended in the Education Endowment Foundation Guide to Pupil Premium, we believe in a tiered approach to Pupil Premium spending. This gives a balanced approach to improving teaching, targeted academic support, and wider strategies.
The tiered approach aligns with the DfE strategy template, and ‘menu of approaches’, so school leaders can be confident that their school improvement approach meets the needs of their pupils and fulfils the expectations of the pupil premium strategy document.
1. High quality teaching
Spending on developing high quality teaching may include investment in professional development, training and support for early career teachers, along with recruitment and retention. Ensuring an effective teacher is in front of every class, and that every teacher is supported to keep improving, is the key ingredient of a successful school and should rightly be a top priority for pupil premium spending.
2. Targeted academic support
Evidence consistently shows the positive impact that targeted academic support can have, including on those who are not making good progress, or those who have been disproportionately impacted by the effects of the pandemic. Considering how classroom teachers and teaching assistants can provide targeted academic support, such as linking structured small group interventions to classroom teaching and the curriculum, is likely to be an essential ingredient of an effective pupil premium strategy.
3. Wider strategies
Wider strategies relate to the most significant non-academic challenges to success in school, including attendance, behaviour, and social and emotional support, which also may negatively impact upon academic attainment. Given the impact of the pandemic, issues such as securing high levels of attendance may be more prominent for schools as they develop their strategy. While many challenges may be common between schools, it is also likely that the specific features of the community each school serves will affect spending in this category.
Many approaches within the tiered model will overlap categories, and the balance between categories will vary from year to year as schools’ priorities change.
EEF Guide to Pupil Premium
Parent Guide to Pupil Premium - leaflet
Bromley Guide to Free School Meals and Pupil Premium
Free School Meals – Bromley Guidance school meals
Free school meals/pupil premium payments are available to all eligible pupils attending Bromley maintained schools and academies. The current government guidance advises that, If your child has already been assessed as eligible for free school meals since April 2018, you do not need to submit a new application until they finish their current phase of education (i.e., primary or Year 11 in secondary).
Infant pupils
Children in Reception Year, Year 1, and Year 2 (Key Stage 1) automatically receive free school meals. This is called Universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) and you do not need to apply for meals.
If, however, you are a low-income family, and meet the qualifying benefits detailed below, you can help your child’s school by submitting a free school meals application to be assessed. If your child is assessed as eligible the school will then be able to claim pupil premium funding to support the provision of education for children in the school.
Children in Year 3 and above
Your child may be eligible for free school meals if you are receiving any of the following benefits:
- Income support
- Income based Jobseekers Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Child Tax Credit (providing you are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit), with a gross annual household income of no more than £16,190 (as assessed by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs-HMRC)
- Guarantee Element of State Pension Credit
- Support under part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- Working Tax Credit run-on (the payment received for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)
- Universal Credit, with a net annual household income of £7,400 or less (after tax and not including any other benefits you receive).
How to apply
We recommend you apply online using the above link. If you are unable to complete the application online, you can request a paper application from your child’s school.
Your application will be processed within 15 working days of receipt, and we will notify you and the school of the outcome in writing. Please be advised that July-October are extremely busy times for applications, and it may take longer than 15 working days to complete.
When an eligible child transfers schools (including primary school to secondary school), a new free school meals application is not required because previous eligibility information will be sent to the new school as part of the pupil information file.
Free School Meals Team - Bromley
Admissions & Transport
Address: Civic Centre, Stockwell Building, Bromley, BR1 3UH
Telephone: 020 8313 4044
Email: fsm@bromley.gov.uk