Pupil Premium & Sports Premium
Pupil Premium
The Pupil Premium is additional funding which is allocated to schools on the basis of the number of pupils who have been eligible for free school meals (FSM) at any point over the last six years. This additional funding is aimed at addressing the current underlying inequalities which exist between children from disadvantaged backgrounds and their more affluent peers.
The pupil premium also provides funding for children who have been looked after or adopted from care and for children whose parents serve in the armed services.
Schools receive an additional £1345 for each pupil eligible for free school meals or £2345 for children who are considered as looked after (CLA). Children whose parents serve in the armed forces receive a lower amount of £310. Allocation of funding is based on pupils eligible recorded on the October School Census and based on records held by the Virtual School.
Each school can decide how they spend the pupil premium but will be held to account to show the impact it has had. Smitham uses the end of key stage data and phonics results to assess the impact of this funding. Other data such as attendance rates and evidence from books/learning may also be analysed.
P.E. and Sport Premium
Schools receiving this funding must use it to make additional and sustainable improvements to the quality of PE and sport they offer. Please see our overview which details how we will be spending the money.
Catch-Up Funding
The government announced £1 billion of funding to support children and young people to catch up lost time after school closure. This is especially important for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged backgrounds. This funding includes:
- a one-off universal £650 million catch up premium for the 2020 to 2021 academic year to ensure that schools have the support they need to help all pupils make up for lost teaching time
- a £350 million National Tutoring Programme to provide additional, targeted support for those children and young people who need the most help, which includes:
- a schools programme for 5 to 16-year-olds – for more information, see the National Tutoring Programme FAQs
- a 16 to 19 tuition fund
- an oral language intervention programme for reception-aged children
Please see our plan below.