PP spending and catch up
Pupil Premium Strategy
CATCH UP FUNDING
Children and young people across the country have experienced unprecedented disruption to their education as a result of coronavirus (COVID-19) throughout the academic year 2019-20 and 2020-21. As a result of this, the government announced £1 billion of funding to support children and young people to catch up. This included a one-off universal £650 million catch-up premium for the 2020 to 2021 academic year to ensure that schools have the support they need to help all pupils make up for lost teaching time.
The ways in which St James School chose to use their allocated amount of Catch Up Funding is detailed here – catch up funding spend 2021
PUPIL PREMIUM
The Pupil Premium is additional funding given to schools in England to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and close the gap between them and their peers. Pupils who are eligible for Free School Meals or have been eligible for Free School Meals during the previous six years (known as Ever 6), receive Pupil Premium funding, along with children whose parents/carers are in the services. Children who have been Looked After for one day or more, were adopted from care, have a special guardianship order or a residence order receive Pupil Premium Plus funding.
The Government believes that the Pupil Premium is the best way to address the current underlying inequalities between eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) and their peers. Each individual school is held accountable for how they use their Pupil Premium allocation, in order that the funding is targeted towards those pupils who need it the most.
It is for the school to decide how the Pupil Premium is spent. Each school is responsible for monitoring both the use of the funding and the impact it is having upon relevant pupils. Measures are included in the performance tables that will capture the achievement of the pupils receiving Pupil Premium funding.
Our key objective in using Pupil Premium Funding is to narrow the attainment gap between vulnerable groups. Through targeted interventions, we are working to eliminate barriers to learning and progress. In particular, we are focusing on closing the gap of our higher prior attainers through a rigorous knowledge-based curriculum, supported by homework and for lower prior attainers, literacy support to ensure literacy is not a barrier to progress.
We also aim to further develop resilient learners, by explicitly teaching positive learning behaviours and community engagement. To this end, we are investing in a range of pastoral support and our elective enrichment program. With this academic, pastoral and character support, we believe that all of our students can be successful and achieve excellent outcomes. We will continue to ensure that all learners, including our disadvantaged learners, live by life’s highest values and reach their greatest potential.
Our Pupil Premium Lead is Tom Webster and our use of Pupil Premium Funding is reviewed with our Link Governor, Chris Martin, termly. Katie Miles is our Designated Teacher for Looked After Children (LAC) and Previously Looked After Children (PLAC).
Please find our Pupil Premium Strategy for 2021-2022 here: Pupil Premium Strategy 2021-22
Please find our previous pupil premium strategies below