The Pupil Premium provides additional funding on top of the main funding a school receives. It is targeted at students from disadvantaged backgrounds to ensure they benefit from the same opportunities as students from less deprived families. From September 2016 the premium will be worth £935 for secondary age students and £1,320 for primary age pupils and goes to children who at any point in the past 6 years have been in receipt of Free School Meals (FSM); £2,300 goes to any student who has been continuously looked after for the past six months or who has been adopted from care under the Adoption and Children Act 2002 or who has left care under a Special Guardianship or Residence Order; finally £300 goes to students whose parent/parents are currently serving in the armed forces or are in receipt of a pension from the Ministry of Defence.
How the Pupil Premium is spent is monitored closely with all schools accountable for the impact of the money spent. At The Halifax Academy we pride ourselves on utilising the Pupil Premium to support our students with a specific focus on Literacy, Transition (at all key stages) Engagement, and Attendance, maximising the life opportunities for all students.
Why is there a pupil premium?
Students who have been eligible for Free School Meals at any point in their school career have consistently lower educational attainment than those who have never been eligible. In 2009-10 GCSE statistics showed that around a third of students who have been on Free School Meals in the previous six years achieved five or more A*- C grades, compared to more than two thirds of their fellow students.
How will the impact of the spending of the Pupil Premium be measured?
To monitor progress on attainment, measures will be included in the school performance tables that will capture the achievement of students covered by the Pupil Premium. At The Halifax Academy, we use a termly cycle of data collection to monitor and track student attainment, which is used to inform student progress and enable the early identification of need, support and appropriate intervention.
For further information about Pupil Premium at The Halifax Academy, please follow the links below:
