Please read the information below which gives details of our Pupil Premium Grant and how we allocate the funding.

The Pupil Premium

What is the Pupil Premium? The Pupil Premium is additional funding to help schools close the attainment gap between children from low income and other disadvantaged families and their peers.

If a child has been eligible for free school meals (FSM) at any point over the past 6 years or has been continuously looked after for 6 months (LAC) the school receives an amount per child within our budget.  This has risen each year to the current amount of £1455 per child with an extra £335 for children whose parents are in the services. Schools will receive £2,530 for each pupil who has left local authority-care because of one of the following:

• adoption
• a special guardianship order
• a child arrangements order
• a residence order

Children who have been in local-authority care for one day or more also attract £2,530 of pupil premium funding. Funding for these pupils doesn’t go to our school; it goes to the virtual school head (VSH) in the local authority that looks after the child. VSHs are responsible for managing pupil premium funding for looked-after children.

Why has it 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. Other groups that may also be able to access Pupil Premium are children who have been Looked After (LAC) and children of Service Personnel. 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.

Our Funding     

Howitt Primary Community School is committed to ensuring maximum progress for all groups of children and strives to close any gaps. We also actively promote equality of opportunities for all staff, governors, pupils and parents, creating a harmonious learning community where all can succeed.

We have clear strategic approach to the use of specific pupil premium funding and plans are integrated into wider school support and improvement systems. These are monitored and evaluated regularly and data analysis ensures that the correct support and strategies are identified to maximise progress.

We do have a named governor who monitors the pupil premium spending and matters relating to pupil premium are reported back to the governing board.

What do we expect to see?

Barriers to learning identified and overcome with targeted specific support so that every child, however financially disadvantaged is able to have full access to our curriculum, extra-curricular activities and where possible support with educational activities at home.