“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord” Colossians 3:23

Pupil Premium

What is the Pupil Premium Grant?

The Department for Education provides additional funding to schools for pupils who are eligible for Free School Meals; pupils who are cared for, or previously cared for, and pupils with parents in the Armed Forces.

  • The Pupil Premium Grant was increased in April 2023 from £1,385 to £1,455 for each pupil eligible for free school meals or who has claimed free school meals in the last 6 years.
  • Pupil Premium Plus funding for pupils who are ‘cared for’ or were ‘previously cared for’ was increased in April 2023 from £2,410 to £2,530.
  • The new service premium rate was increased in April 2023 from £320 to £335. (Service pupil premium is additional funding for schools, but it is not based on disadvantage. It has been combined into pupil premium payments to make it easier for schools to manage their spending.)

The funding is intended to ‘diminish the difference’ between the attainment of pupils in receipt of the Pupil Premium funding and those who are not. The DfE recommends that the Pupil Premium Plus funding is used to address pupils’ social and emotional needs as well as raising their attainment.

Mrs Shelley Smith is our Pupil Premium Champion and Mrs Rosie Hemmings is the governor with responsibility for monitoring the use of the Pupil Premium Grant.

If you think your child might be eligible for free school meals, please contact the school office for further information.

How much Pupil Premium funding is allocated for 2023/2024?

Bollington St John’s Primary School will receive a Pupil Premium Grant of £18,155. This includes pupils who are cared for or are eligible for free school meals (FSM) either currently or previously (Ever 6) and were recorded on the school census. This is expected to remain the same until the next census when the funding is expected to change.

What are the main barriers to educational achievement faced by eligible pupils at our schools?

  • Emotional well-being, particularly lack of resilience and independence skills.
  • Low academic baseline - many of our Pupil Premium pupils have identified additional needs or require some form of specific provision.
  • Support from home and limited experiences of the wider curriculum and community.

How the grant is used to address those barriers and the reasons for that approach

How we spend the funding is a whole school decision. We refer to the Educational Endowment Fund to select the best ways to improve pupils’ academic progress, emotional well-being and ensure inclusion in all the school has to offer.

  • Pastoral care is a priority within our school. We were involved in the first phase of the ‘Emotionally Healthy Schools’ initiative to promote the mental well-being, resilience and confidence of our pupils.
  • We have continued to work with Tytherington High School to develop Emotionally Healthy Ambassadors across the school.
  • Mrs Shelley Smith is our Designated Senior Lead for Mental Health (DSLMH) and coordinates the whole school approach to mental well-being.
  • In September 2021 we took part in the roll out of myHappymind, an evidence based NHS backed initiative which has been promoted by the Cheshire East Local Authority, the aim of which is to positively impact the mental health of all children, staff and parents who are part of our school community. The purpose of this initiative was to help all those in our school community to access a toolkit of skills and habits which they can use to equip them if they face mental health challenges at any time in their future.
  • Mindfulness, Yoga and relaxation sessions are built in during the day. We also offer restorative group work, and in spring 2022 we launched the Girls on Board initiative, to help our Key Stage 2 children to navigate friendship issues and to help them to recognise and deal with these in a positive and empowering way.  We also offer social skills groups to support pupils with social communication difficulties.
  • Since September 2020, we have a dedicated member of staff, Shelley Smith, who offers and provides emotional support where appropriate for those children who have emotional challenges which may or may not become a barrier to their learning. Meetings provide opportunities to reduce anxiety and develop confidence.
  • We offer Forest Schools for all pupils including those in receipt of Pupil Premium funding.
  • Funding also goes towards providing additional, skilled, adult support. This enables us to provide early intervention, either 1:1 or within a small group, to ‘diminish the gap’ between Pupil Premium pupils and their peers. Specific resources, specialist advice and staff training is also provided to enhance our provision, in order to meet our pupils’ needs.
  • We host regular events for parents to advise them on changes to the curriculum, how we teach Maths, Reading etc. how to prepare their child for starting school etc.
  • We feel that, whilst the funding should be focused on learning, children in receipt of Pupil Premium should be given the opportunity to experience a wide range of out of school activities. We help with the funding of school trips, after school clubs, residential visits, uniform, swimming and we offer the opportunity to play a musical instrument.

How we measure the impact of the Pupil Premium Grant

  • All teaching staff are aware of who is eligible for Pupil Premium and this informs their planning. Regular assessments allow them to give pupils effective feedback. 
  • Pre and post assessment data from reading tests, spelling tests and Maths assessments etc. are used to provide a baseline to track the impact of interventions. These are monitored every 6 weeks with input from pupils, the lead adult and the SENCO.
  • Pupil voice questionnaires and ‘feelings sheets’ are used to give an indication of pupils’ sense of well-being.
  • Pupil Premium pupils have an action plan, a tracking and/or profile sheet with advice on Quality First Teaching strategies, interventions/support provided, medical needs, outside agencies involvement and desired outcomes. Progress is monitored each term, at a designated staff meeting. 

The Pupil Premium strategy is reviewed annually.   

For the previous academic year 2022/2023 - the Pupil Premium Grant allocation was £17,645.

This was mainly used to provide additional adult support, resources and staff training to enhance the learning of Pupil Premium children. Professional development has focussed on reviewing the Foundation Subjects and mental health awareness. Funding ensured all Pupil Premium pupils were fully included in the opportunities offered by the school.

Impact Summary – SATs results for 2023 indicate that:-

KS1 – Of the three pupils in Year 2, two were working towards national standard in reading and maths and one was working at national standard in reading and maths. Two of those children were working towards national standard in writing and one was working below national standard in writing.

KS2 – Of the two pupils in year 6, one achieved national standard in writing and maths and greater depth in reading. One achieved working towards national standard in reading and writing and national standard in maths.

Reception and years 1, 3, 4 and 5 – Of the six children in these year groups, one child achieved the early learning goals in maths and literacy, one child is working at age related expectations in reading, writing and maths, two are working below age related expectations in reading, writing and maths (both of these children have an Education, Health and Care Plan), one child is EAL and is currently working below age related expectations in all areas but this is predicted to improve as language proficiency increases, and one child is working towards age related expectations in reading and maths and below in writing.

The Dyslexia Gold and Indirect Dyslexia Learning programmes, continue to be a low cost, high impact investment for school which we are continuing with this year.  

There remains a gap between the attainment of Pupil Premium pupils and their peers. Some pupils have specific difficulties which impact on their learning. We have also identified a lack of independence skills which improves significantly as pupils move through the school. We have access to regular advice and support from the Educational Psychology Service and the Cheshire East Autism Team, through their consultation process. Advice from other outside agencies such as the Speech and Language Service, Paediatric Occupational and Physiotherapy Service, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service and the School Nursing Service is used to meet the needs of our pupils.

This year before the start of the academic year, we accessed training from the Local Authority relating to attachment and developmental trauma to help our understanding and of looked after children and the strategies which can be used to best support their needs.

Access to emotional support has been beneficial in helping pupils to identify how they feel. They are encouraged to use strategies to reduce anxiety and self-regulate their emotions. This has led to an increased sense of well-being and self-confidence.

All Pupil Premium children had access to school trips and clubs, weekly swimming lessons, Forest Schools and the opportunity to learn a musical instrument.

Files to Download

Student Login

STAFF LOGIN
PARENT LOGIN
SCHOOL BLOGS