Pupil Premium was introduced by the Department for Education (DfE) in 2011, as additional funding for pupils who receive Free School Meals and are Looked After Children. The Pupil Premium is additional funding to help schools close the attainment gap between pupils from low-income and other disadvantaged families, and their peers. If a pupil has been eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) at any point over the past 6 years or has been looked after for one day or more (Child Looked After), the school receives an amount per head within their budget. A provision is also made for pupils who have a parent in the armed services. 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 disadvantaged pupils reaches the pupils who need it most. From September 2012 the Government has required schools to publish online information about how they have used the Pupil Premium. It is for schools to decide how the Pupil Premium, allocated to schools per FSM pupil, is spent, since they are best placed to assess what additional provision should be made for the individual pupils within their responsibility.
In this academic year, 23/24, we have embarked on a journey of pupil premium self reflection with Marc Rowlands. Marc is a foremost expert on the effective use of the Pupil Premium and improving outcomes for disadvantaged learners. He is or has worked with the DfE, the Jersey government, numerous local authorities and over 1000 individual schools to support them with their strategies to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.
For more information about how the government allocate funding please click on the link below: