In 2011-12 the Government launched its Pupil Premium funding. Pupil Premium is a sum of money the school receives for each student who is either in receipt of Free School Meals (FSM) or who has been in receipt of them at some point in the last 6 years. Nationally, the statistics show that students who are in receipt of FSM do less well than their peers in external exams. The aim of this money is to try to close that attainment gap.
At Far Forest we have the highest of expectations of all of our children. We use our Pupil Premium money to ensure that all children in our school reach their full potential and that no child is left behind.
- Total number of pupils on roll (including Nursery): 86
- Proportion (%) of pupil premium eligible pupils: 12.9%
Nature of support
- Our key objective in using the Pupil Premium Grant is to narrow the gap between pupil groups
- Through targeted teacher led interventions we are working to eliminate barriers to learning and progress
- For children who start school with low attainment on entry, our aim is to ensure that they make accelerated progress in order to reach age related expectations
- We have analysed our data thoroughly and act quickly to ensure gaps in learning are targeted
Analysing Data and Identifying Pupils
We will ensure that:
- ALL teaching staff and support staff are involved in analysis of data and identification of pupils
- ALL staff are aware of who the pupil premium and vulnerable children are
- ALL pupil premium children benefit from the funding, not just those who are underperforming
- Underachievement at all levels is targeted (not just lower attaining pupils)
- Children’s individual needs are considered carefully so that we provide support for those children who could be doing “even better if…..”
Improving Day to Day Teaching
We will continue to ensure that all children across the school receive good teaching, with increasing percentages of outstanding teaching achieved by:
- Setting high expectations
- Addressing any within-school variance
- Ensuring consistent implementation of the non-negotiables, e.g. marking, feedback and guided reading
- Sharing good practice within the school and drawing on external expertise where needed
- Providing high quality CPD
- Improving assessment through joint levelling and moderation across the school and pyramid of Individualising support
We will ensure that the additional support we provide is effective by:
- Looking at the individual needs of each child and identifying their barriers to learning
- Ensuring additional support staff and class teachers communicate regularly
- Matching the skills of the support staff to the interventions they provide
- Working with other agencies to bring in additional expertise
- Providing support for parents through structure conversations and targeted curriculum evenings
- Tailoring teacher led interventions to the needs of the child
- Recognising and building on children’s strengths to further boost confidence
Funding Priorities
Pupil Premium is not a personal budget and schools should spend the money on any provision or resource to target areas of need and enhance learning and attainment, in its widest sense, for entitled children. At Far Forest we are passionate about ensuring that our Pupil Premium funding is used to maximise opportunities for all of our entitled pupils, whilst ensuring their inclusion in our whole school community. We aim to spend this money to raise the aspirations and ambitions of our most disadvantaged and vulnerable children, to ensure that they achieve well during their time at our school and leave us with good foundations for life.
Pupil Premium Strategies
The Pupil Premium Strategy Statement details our Pupil Premium profile and priorities over a three-year period, which are reviewed annually.