Pupil Premium
What is the Pupil Premium Fund?
In 2011-12 the Government launched its Pupil Premium funding. The money is sent to schools based on the numbers of pupils in school who are eligible for Free School Meals (FSM). From 2012-13, it was been expanded to include all those children who have been eligible for free school meals within the last six years. This brings in additional funding to the school which is effectively allocated to support these children both within and outside the curriculum. This funding currently stands at £1,320 per child and £1,900 for Looked After Children.
At Queen’s Drive we believe that quality first teaching and learning and a rich curriculum are the key to all children being successful. The pupil premium money supports the extensive projects and trips from which all our children benefit. The recruitment and retention of top quality teachers and other staffing so that there is extra capacity for additional teaching in small groups or conducting one to one sessions with under-achieving pupils to find gaps in learning have shown to have great impact.
Trips and residential learning experiences are subsidised for Year 6 pupils and the pupil premium is used to ensure that no child misses out due to lack of money in the family home.
Our school provides a wide variety of extra-curricular activities which engages the children with school and contributes to raised self-esteem, a sense of belonging and outstanding attitudes to learning during the school day. Our clubs are run largely by staff members and this fact contributes to the positive impact these extra-curricular activities have on the success of our pupils.
What impact does it have?
At the end of Key Stage 2 in July 2024, there were 8 Pupil Premium pupils in year 6. These 8 children received a wealth of support from Teaching Assistants and Teachers to ensure these children made the progress that they were capable of. 88% of the Pupil Premium children achieved the Age Related Expectation for Reading. 63% achieved Age Related Expectation in Writing, 63% of children achieved Age Related Expectation in Grammar & Punctuation with 63% of these children attaining Age Related Expectation in Mathematics. This had been particular focused areas for these children. These children benefited greatly from the residential trip to the Kingswood in Sheffield. Here the children experienced a wealth of outdoor and adventurous activities and formed strong friendship groups and developed resilience. These children fully embraced the Forest Schools programme in school and used their knowledge to great effect over a 6 week scheme. The residential trip was subsidised for these children to ensure that they were able to attend and benefit from the trip. These children also received additional swimming sessions and all met the end of KS 2 expectation. These children benefitted greatly from the pastoral support on offer in school. The schools' pastoral lead was on hand each day to support these children with a range of pastoral activities. 'Breakfast Clubs', 'Lego Therapy' and 'Draw & Talk' are just some of the initiatives run in school for these children. The school is also keen to showcase music. This academic year will see all KS 2 Pupil Premium children receive a special Music assembly and focused workshop to promote a love of music with these children. A specialist music teacher delivers these sessions to the Pupil Premium children.
We have been fortunate to be able to offer this support as a result of our current funding, but we are keen to do more. We know that there are other areas we could develop and we are keen to enhance our pupil support and intervention provision for all pupils.
If you feel your son/daughter may be eligible for Free School Meals we would encourage you to apply. Even if your son/daughter does not subsequently take up the meals in school, we would receive valuable additional funding to develop our pupil support provision. If your son/daughter may meet one of the other criteria for Pupil Premium please contact me in school for a discreet discussion.
Please be assured that other pupils would not be made aware of your son/daughter’s eligibility and this information is shared confidentially within school.
If you have any further questions about Pupil Premium please do not hesitate to contact the school. If you believe your son/daughter may be eligible please contact the school office to find out more.