Pupil Premium

About Pupil Premium

Robertsbridge Community College is committed to ensuring that every pupil is given every opportunity to reach their full potential. As a publicly funded school we receive 'Pupil Premium' funding. The Pupil Premium is additional funding given to schools in England to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and close the gap between them and their peers.

Our strategy for use of pupil funding responds to a wide range of risk factors and recognises the importance of quality teaching and learning alongside outstanding pastoral support to raise achievement and engagement in learning. With this in mind, we adopt a multi-strand approach to secure positive outcomes for all our students including those deemed disadvantaged.

The foci around which we deploy Pupil Premium funding are:

1. Raising progress and achievement

2. Improving attendance and punctuality

3. Providing additional support and intervention for our most vulnerable students

4. Strengthening parental engagement

5. Raising aspirations – including quality careers education and work related activity

6. Building social capital and enhancing social mobility

Purpose

Publicly-funded schools in England get extra funding from the government to help them improve the attainment of their disadvantaged pupils.

Evidence shows that children from disadvantaged backgrounds:

generally face extra challenges in reaching their potential at school
often do not perform as well as their peers.

The pupil premium grant is designed to allow schools to help disadvantaged pupils by improving their progress and the exam results they achieve.

In making provision for socially disadvantaged pupils, we recognise that not all pupils who receive free school meals will be socially disadvantaged. We also recognise that not all pupils who are socially disadvantaged are registered or qualify for free school meals. We reserve the right to allocate the Pupil Premium funding to support any pupil or group of pupils the school has legitimately identified as being disadvantaged.

Eligibility and Funding

Schools get pupil premium funding based on the number of pupils they have in January each year from the following groups:

Free school meals

Schools get £1,345 for every primary age pupil, or £955 for every secondary age pupil, who claims free school meals, or who has claimed free school meals in the last 6 years.

Looked-after and previously looked-after children

Schools get £2,345 for every pupil who has left local authority care through adoption, a special guardianship order or child arrangements order.

Local authorities get the same amount for each child they are looking after; they must work with the school to decide how the money is used to support the child’s Personal Education Plan.

Service premium

Schools get £310 for every pupil with a parent who:

is serving in HM Forces
has retired on a pension from the Ministry of Defence

This funding is to help with pastoral support.

Academically able pupils

The pupil premium is not based on ability.

Research shows that the most academically able pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds are most at risk of under-performing. Schools should focus on these pupils just as much as pupils with low results.

Use of Pupil Premium

It’s up to school leaders to decide how to spend the pupil premium.This is because school leaders are best-placed to assess their pupils’ needs and use funding to improve attainment.

Teaching

Schools arrange training and professional development for all the their staff to improve the impact of teaching and learning for pupils.

Academic support

Schools should decide on the main issues stopping their pupils from succeeding at school and use the pupil premium to buy extra help.

Wider approaches

This may include non-academic use of the pupil premium such as:

school breakfast clubs
music lessons for disadvantaged pupils
help with the cost of educational trips or visits
speech and language therapy

Schools may find using the pupil premium in this way helps to:

increase pupils’ confidence and resilience
encourage pupils to be more aspirational
benefit non-eligible pupils

Non-eligible pupils

Schools can spend their pupil premium on pupils who do not meet the eligibility criteria but need extra support.

Schools can use the pupil premium to support other pupils, for example, if they:

are in contact with a social worker
used to be in contact with a social worker
are acting as a carer

Do You Qualify?

Your child may be able to get free school meals if you get any of the following:

Income Support
income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
income-related Employment and Support Allowance
support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
the guaranteed element of Pension Credit
Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
Universal Credit - if you apply on or after 1 April 2018 your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)

Children who get paid these benefits directly, instead of through a parent or guardian, can also get free school meals.

If your child is eligible for free school meals, they’ll remain eligible until they finish the phase of schooling (primary or secondary) they’re in on 31 March 2023 even if your circumstances change.

To apply for free school meals please follow the link below:

ESCC website: free school meals