Pupil Premium 

Pupil Premium is additional funding given by the Government to schools in England to raise the attainment of specific groups of children that fall into the following categories:

• Pupils who have been entitled to Free School Meals at any point over the last six years, due to qualifying for certain benefits
  Pupils who have had a parent in the armed services at any point over the last six years
• Pupils that are, or have been, looked after by the local authority or are adopted
   

Schools are free to spend the pupil premium grant as they see fit. However, they will be held accountable for how they have used the additional funding to support low-income families.

The grant may be spent in the following ways:

• for the purposes of the school, that is for the educational benefit of pupils registered at that school
• for the benefit of pupils registered at other maintained schools or academies
• on community facilities; for example, services whose provision furthers any charitable purpose for the benefit of pupils at the school or their families, or people who live or work in the locality in which the school is situated

St. Michael's Aim for Pupil Premium

At St Michael’s, we aim to use the Pupil Premium Grant to narrow the attainment gap between pupil groups. As a school, we have a strong track record of ensuring that all pupils make good progress.

We carefully decide how the pupil premium is allocated; taking into account the needs of the children and by monitoring the provision and impact it has on the child. We base our decisions on information which is provided by the Sutton Trust – a summary of educational research which identifies the most effective ways to use resources to improve the attainment of disadvantaged pupils.

Research shows that quality first teaching delivers the best results for disadvantaged and vulnerable children. Staff training, collaboration with other primary schools and in house monitoring all contribute to improved outcomes for children. Whilst all children benefit from high quality teaching, disadvantaged and vulnerable children reap disproportionately higher benefits from having good or outstanding teachers. Through observation and assessment we are able to assess if additional provision should be made for individual pupils. It is through high quality teaching and targeted interventions that we work to eliminate barriers to learning.

Inclusion & Pupil Premium

At the start of the year, parents of children who are eligible for the grant are reminded of this; they are given information about how their child is being supported and they are invited to come into school and talk to the class teacher if they want any further information. Parents then have the opportunity to review and discuss their child’s progress as part of our parent evening opportunities during the year. In addition, we operate an open-door policy which means that all staff are normally available after school to discuss more immediate concerns. We also provide a school report at the end of the year.