Pupil Premium Funding

What is the Pupil Premium Grant?

The Pupil Premium Grant (PPG) is a government grant in addition to the main school funding that schools receive in their annual budgets. We believe that appropriate use of this money is the best way to close the gap in educational inequalities between children in school.

Pupil Premium Funds are received for every child who qualifies for Free School Meals (FSM) currently, or has qualified in the past 6 years - £1455 per eligible pupil.

Eligibility for funding also includes all children who:

  • Have been looked after for one day or more
  • Were adopted from care on or after 30th December 2005 left care
  • Had a Special Guardianship Order on or after 30th December 2005
  • Had a Residence Order on or after 14th October 1991.

Looked After Children (LAC) and Post-Looked After Children, who have ceased to be looked after by a local authority in England and Wales because of adoption, a special guardianship order, a child arrangement order or a residence order are entitled to receive £2530 of PPG.

Children from families serving in the Armed Forces or those families in receipt of a Minister of Defence Pension are also entitled to receive £335 PPG.

The Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) is additional funding for early years settings to improve the education they provide for disadvantaged 3- and 4-year-olds.

Children must receive free early education in order to attract EYPP funding. They do not have to take up the full 570 hours of early education they are entitled to in order to get EYPP. Children become eligible for free early education at different points in the year depending on when they turn 3. Please note that 4-year-olds in primary school reception classes who already receive the school-age pupil premium are not eligible for EYPP funding. This means that in the financial year 2023 to 2024, providers will receive £342 for each eligible child who takes up the full 570 hours of state-funded early education they are entitled to.

Schools are free to allocate and spend the Pupil Premium Grant in the way they deem most appropriate, however Abercrombie Primary School is accountable for ensuring this grant is deployed effectively to progress the learning of eligible pupils. The senior leadership team, staff and governors rigorously evaluate how Pupil Premium money is spent and the impact targeted interventions are having on pupils' attainment, closing gaps and addressing barriers to learning.  Vulnerable groups are identified early and appropriate interventions are put in place, funded by the Pupil Premium. The school tracks the progress and attainment of all children.

Transitional protection as part of Universal Credit rollout

From April 2018, the criteria used to determine which pupils are eligible for free school meals was updated to reflect the introduction of Universal Credit, and the phasing out of other income-based benefits.

To ensure families are not disadvantaged during this rollout, protection arrangements have been put in place.

This means that:

  • Any child who was eligible for free school meals on 31 March 2018 will retain their eligibility until the end of roll out, regardless of whether their circumstances change.
  • Any child who becomes eligible during the rollout of universal credit (from 1 April 2018 to the end of roll out) will retain their eligibility until the end of roll out, regardless of whether their circumstances change.
  • Once the rollout of universal credit is complete, no child will lose their entitlement and will continue to be transitionally protected until the end of the current phase of their education. 

Transitional protection is on an individual child basis and not on a family basis. This means that other children in the family will not automatically be entitled to free school meals. Children must meet the eligibility criteria at the time the application for free school meals is made in order to be entitled.

Pupil Premium at Abercrombie

We are a one form entry school.

The development of pupils in receipt of Pupil Premium, on entry is below average for their age when assessed using the expectations set out in ‘EYFS Development Matters’ and our own baseline assessments.

There are currently 235 pupils in total on roll including 33 Nursery children.

We also provide extended provision with a Breakfast Club and After School Club.

Our children are from a wide social mix.

63 children are in receipt of Pupil Premium Funding (PPF). Therefore, approximately 28% of children here receive this funding.

What is distinctive about our Pupil Premium offer?

  • There is a whole school priority and commitment to raising standards, closing gaps and addressing barriers to learning - we are committed to ‘Closing the Gap’ between disadvantaged pupils and the rest of the school population – the progress these groups in school make are at the heart of school improvement.
  • We know that all our children and families are different and have different needs and use our knowledge to allocate spending for best value and need; If we feel that a child would benefit from additional, personalised support, we will invest pupil premium and support that child in a bespoke way.
  • Barriers to learning are identified for all pupils and individual support by class teachers is offered to groups and individuals through high quality teaching and learning. Additional interventions are led by qualified teachers and highly-skilled teaching assistants. Provision for intervention can be 1:1 or small groups but it is always personalised and designed to close gaps in learning and target individuals to accelerate progress across the school.
  • The school has a Pupil Premium Champion to oversee pupil premium spending and impact across the school. This is the Deputy head teacher.
  • The governor responsible for overseeing Pupil Premium is Mr Ben Hanson, a public sector worker with a secure knowledge of the PP agenda, further reflecting the school’s commitment and priority given to disadvantaged pupils and their families.
  • Regular meetings and reports on the progress of pupils supported by our Pupil Premium funding are given to the Pupil Premium Governor, the Performance and Standards committee and the full Governing Body Governing Body. Meetings regularly discuss strategies and their impact.
  • Early intervention is a priority.
  • Spending is evaluated and reviewed regularly to address any additional barriers to learning to ensure interventions have maximum impact on closing any gaps in attainment/progress between the disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged cohorts both in school and when compared to all children nationally - the leadership team including the pupil premium champion and governors analyse attainment and progress of children in receipt of PP to ensure that interventions are effective.
  • Extended learning out of school hours via Breakfast Club and After School Club and an extensive programme of enrichment and engagement is offered to PP children funded by the PPG.
  • Class teachers assess the performance of PP pupils as a vulnerable group within their class and report to SLT during pupil progress meetings specifically targeting the underperformance within this group. Barriers are identified and direct action is taken to address the areas of concern.  The progress made by this cohort in school is linked to appraisal outcomes for all teaching staff.
  • Attendance has a high priority in school. When attendance is an issue, children and their families are supported by the HT, our Pastoral Support Worker and the School Nurse to ensure children are in school and ready to learn.
  • Emotional, social and wellbeing support is offered by the school to all children through Positive Play, Nurture Group, Lego Therapy and our Pastoral Support Worker.
  • ‘Able disadvantaged’ children are tracked specifically and planned for to ensure they continue to progress and achieve their potential.

In 2019 Ofsted said, “The school’s broad and balanced curriculum ensures that pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is very effective. Enrichment activities and extra-curricular clubs equip pupils well, socially and emotionally, for their life in modern Britain. The fundamental British Values of respect, tolerance, service to others and democracy are ever present, and evident in even the youngest of pupils.”

“Leaders ensure that the pupil premium funding is used to support disadvantaged pupils’ academic and personal development.”