Pupil Premium

The Pupil Premium Grant (PPG) is additional funding for, publicly funded schools in England, to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and close the gap between them and their peers.

The Pupil Premium Grant is not ‘ring fenced’ and schools are free to spend it as they wish but need to demonstrate that the expenditure is contributing to closing performance gaps between children who experience social disadvantage and others. The grant is intended to benefit children who are currently in school.

PPG Funding for the Financial Year 2017 to 2018

In the 2017 to 2018 financial year, schools will receive the following funding for each child registered as eligible for free school meals at any point in the last 6 years:

• £1,320 for pupils in reception year to year 6
• £935 for pupils in year 7 to year 11

Schools will also receive £1,900 for each pupil who has left local-authority care because of 1 of the following:

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

If a pupil has been registered as eligible for free school meals and has also left local-authority care for any of the reasons above, they will attract the £1,900 rate.

What we spent it on last year?

The key purpose of the Pupil Premium Grant is to enable all pupils to reach their full potential. Each school may decide how best to use the funding to enable all its pupils to reach age related expectations and are held accountable for how it has been used to support pupils from low income families.

We recognise that barriers to achievement take a variety of forms and will do whatever it takes to support a child, both in and out of the classroom. We use all our resources to ensure that every child has an equal opportunity to become an empowered learner. In order to achieve this we offer our children a wide range of opportunities, we always make sure these are accessible for everyone. We work with our families and colleagues to make sure everyone has high aspirations for all pupils. We ensure pupil premium children are well represented and have a voice in our Children’s Parliament.

The governors at Victoria Academy have agreed that PPG should be spent on all vulnerable and/or disadvantaged pupils in school.
During the last academic year (2016/17), our school received £ 58,080 in total, for all eligible junior aged pupils. We used this Pupil Premium Funding to contribute towards:

• Providing a 1:1 teacher for academic support in Yrs 5 & 6
• Increasing Teaching Assistant small group support for reading, writing and maths
• Providing a Behaviour Support Worker for 1:1 and small group support
• Subsidies for residential and educational visits
• Assisted places at breakfast and/or after school clubs
• Assisted places at enrichment workshops eg. Theatre Productions

What has been its impact on learning and social development?

The impact of the Pupil Premium Grant is measured at the end of the academic year in relation to:

• Core subject progress 

As a result of carefully targeting the pupil premium budget on the specific needs of vulnerable pupils:

• The majority of eligible children have made at least good progress in maths and reading and writing is an area for further development.
• Most vulnerable pupils are motivated to complete their work and welcome the help of support staff to assist them with their work.
• All vulnerable children have taken part in residential and/or educational visits and benefitted from their experiences. 

What will we spend it on this year?

This year Victoria Academy has received £60 480 and we will use it to support teaching & learning for disadvantaged pupils in the following ways:

• Further Up Skill staff in supporting emotional resilience
• Enhance PHSE teaching and leadership to ensure pupil personal safety and wellbeing
• Provide a Behaviour Support Worker for 1:1 and small group support
• Provide a 1:1 teacher for academic support in Yr 6
• Increase TA small group support for reading, writing and maths
• Increase male role models in our staff team
• Increase our Enrichment Programme to ensure all children participate
• Provide a Children’s Counsellor to support children’s mental health
• Support the cost of curricular activities, trips and residentials 

 Do you qualify?

You may qualify for the Pupil Premium Grant if you receive any of the following benefits:

• Income support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• The guarantee element of State Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit, provided you are not entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual income (as assessed by HM Revenue and Customs) that does not exceed £16,190.
• Working Tax Credit ‘run-on’ – the payment someone may receive for a further four weeks after they stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit.

For more information visit: https://www.gov.uk/apply-free-school-meals