The Pupil Premium is a grant given to schools to support children who may be vulnerable to under-achievement. Schools receive funding for each child who is eligible. A child is eligible for funding if there are, or ever have been, ‘Looked after children’ (LAC) or if they currently receive free school meals or have received free school meals at any time within the last six years (Ever 6 FSM).
Currently, schools receive £1,320 for each pupil in Reception to Year 6 who is currently receiving free school meals or who is identified as ‘Ever 6 FSM’. Schools receive £1,900 for each ‘Looked after child’.
Schools must publish pupil premium data, including the amount the school is currently receiving, as well as setting out how the pupil premium funding will be spent and the impact it is having on the attainment of eligible and other pupils.
The government website (GOV.UK) explains that a child may be eligible for free school meals if his/her parents are in receipt of any of the following benefits:
Children who get paid these benefits directly, instead of through a parent or guardian, can also get free school meals.
Your child might also get free school meals if you get any of these benefits and your child is both:
This does not include all children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 who are eligible for Universal Infant Free School Meals. This is a different scheme and parents receiving any of the above benefits must inform the school as the school may be able to receive additional funding.
At Bishop Ridley, we understand that every child is unique and aim to provide the best education possible to help all of our children to reach their full potential, regardless of their background or need. All members of our community are committed to meeting the pastoral, social and academic needs of our most vulnerable children, in an effort to close the gaps between these children and their non-disadvantaged peers.
Our Aims:
The progress and attainment of all pupils are tracked and monitored throughout the year and class teachers, along with the SENCO, will ensure that all pupils receive the support and intervention they need to continue to make good progress and meet the end-of-year expectations.
We conduct regular analysis of our disadvantaged pupils to ensure that we remain up to date with the challenges and potential barriers to learning that they face. We do this by conducting staff surveys, as well as listening to pupil voice. This allows us to ensure that our Pupil Premium grant is tailored specifically to the needs of our pupils. As of September 2021, these are the barriers to learning that are faced by our disadvantaged pupils:
In the academic year 2021-2022, we predict that we will receive £42,430 Pupil Premium funding for 26 children identified as disadvantaged.
This year, we have been lucky enough to work with Challenger Troop, who have been in to work with some of our children in Years 4, 5 and 6 on a Monday morning. The children have undertaken different drills and activities, designed to improve their confidence and teamwork abilities.
Following the course, the pupils were surveyed and the following results were obtained:
100% of pupils believed that Challenger Troop helped them to feel more confident.
100% felt that the course helped them to improve their discipline skills.
92% of pupils said that Challenger Troop improved their communication and listening skills.
92% said that they felt it helped to improve their focus inside of the classroom
100% said that they felt that their physical fitness had improved following their 6 week Challenger Troop course.
The children also spoke positively about their experiences with Challenger Troop overall:
"It change my mindset and the way I look at things. Without trying, I already feel like I'm more dedicated to my school work." - Child, Year 6
"I learnt to be more confident and to have more resilience." - Child, Year 5
"I have become very confident and have made lots of new friends." - Child, Year 6
"I learned how to be stronger and get more confident." - Child, Year 4
"I loved it because it was fun, challenging and my fitness is much better now. My confidence has gone up by 1 million!" - Child, Year 6
At the awards ceremony, all pupils were given a certificate for participating in the course and some children were chosen to receive special awards, based on their overall performance:
In the Spring Term, nearly 40 pupils from across the school took part in a drama programme run by the Wizard Theatre group. Over the six sessions, pupils learnt a range of techniques and played a variety of games that enabled them to work together and improve their confidence at performing in front of others. At the end of the programme, each group performed a poem that they had been learning to a small audience. We were thrilled with the progress that they had made.
Following the workshops, our children were surveyed to discover their thoughts about Wizard Theatre:
Here's what our children had to say:
"This was incredibly fun and not a single part of it wasn't enjoyable. I would love this to continue."
"Thank you Ange, Leon and Mr Catchpole for being so supportive and letting us do this! Can we please do this again?"
"Thank you for making me feel more confident."
We would like to thank Leon and Angela from Wizard Theatre for coming in and brightening up our Wednesdays!