PUPIL PREMIUM - WHAT IS IT? 

Pupil Premium is funding paid by the government via the local authority directly to schools and is generated by the number of children who have been eligible for free school meals during the previous 6 years, children who are Looked After and service children. The Pupil Premium is targeted at improving the provision for those pupils.   

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS? 

While we realise that not all the pupils who are eligible for Pupil Premium actually wish to have free school meals, we would be grateful if you would support the school by letting us know if your child is eligible, so that we can get as much funding to support our pupils as possible.  

There are many benefits for both the pupil – at Buxton Junior School these may include: 

• Breakfast club for children in receipt of free school meals, 

• Family Resource Workers to support children and families and impact on attendance, 

• Additional support through intervention groups, 

• Prioritised slots in preteaching and overlearning groups, 

• Additional Teaching Assistant targeted support for pupils in basic skills - reading, writing and maths (including Early Bird support before school), 

• Additional TA targeted support to meet the social and emotional needs of pupils and improve attendance e.g. Early Bird, TalkTime and lunchtime sport activities, 

• Prioritise places in Forest School nurture provision, 

• Subsidised residential visits, educational visits and other educational enrichment opportunities, 

• Subsidised uniform. 

Please note that when your child was at an Infant School, they will have been automatically entitled to a free school meal each day as part of the Government Universal Free School Meal initiative. However, depending on your circumstances, you may be eligible to register for free school meals to continue during your child’s time at Buxton Junior School.  

We strongly encourage all eligible parents/carers to apply where appropriate. No one will know who has registered and it will not affect any other benefits being claimed. Any children who are entitled to free schools meals, whether they take them up or not, means that our school is given extra funding to help support their needs. We realise that information of this nature is very sensitive and we can assure you that all such information will be treated in the strictest confidence. 

HOW DO I KNOW IF I CAN AM ELIGIBLE FOR PUPIL PREMIUM? 

Registering a child for school meals is really quick and easy, and will make a big difference to the child and the school. 

To be eligible for Pupil Premium the family must be in receipt of one or more of the following benefits: 

• Income Support 

• Income-based Job Seekers' Allowance 

• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance 

• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 

• The Guaranteed element of State Pension Credit 

• Child Tax Credit, provided you are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit, and have an annual gross income, of no more than £16,190 as assessed by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs1 

• Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for working tax credit 

Under the current rules the school would receive Pupil Premium funding for any child or young person who has claimed Free School Meals in the last 6 years. 

WE CAN HELP! 

You can register for Free School Meals by calling the Free School Meals Department at 01629 536 481 or on line at: https://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/education/schools/your-child-at-school/meals/school-meals/free-school-meals.aspx 

If you’d like help or more information please contact Mrs Smith in the school office on 01298 22156 who will be happy to help you. 

How do we Spend the Premium?

Following the guidance mentioned above, we structure our approach around quality first teaching (underpinned by detailed assessment), targeted academic support (for those pupils who are not making good progress across the spectrum of achievement), and wider strategies relating to the most significant non-academic barriers to success in school (including attendance, behaviour and social and emotional support).

The following table shows an overview of strategies put into place for each of the tiers, further detail about which can be found in the Pupil Premium Strategy and School Improvement Plan.

How do we judge the impact of our strategies?

Our programme of continuing professional development ensures teaching and learning in the school is always observed as of very high quality, incorporating the range of strategies implemented to support the delivery of quality first teaching. Furthermore, robust assessments in reading, writing, maths, spelling (and phonics in Y3) are gathered in each year group at three points of the year, with subsequent pupil progress discussions prioritising pupils in receipt of the pupil premium, allowing school to identify who is making progress at the expected rate and identify anyone who may be in need of some additional support. 

School’s target is that all pupils should make accelerated progress from their first assessment point in school, and we continue to work to, as a minimum expectation, meet targets set in formal KS1 SATS assessments (where available). Teachers, teaching assistants and senior leaders regularly meet to provide feedback about progress made.

Class teachers monitor the well-being of the children via the strategies implemented. Where involved in specific interventions relating to wider strategies, teaching assistants and family resource workers monitor and report to the class teachers about progress; the children should also be able to demonstrate and explain their progress confidently across the curriculum. Furthermore, school happiness surveys and pupil voice reports that pupils at Buxton Junior School are happy and thriving.

The Pupil Premium Strategy document below outlines the complete overview of how the Pupil Premium is allocated at Buxton Junior School.