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 £1455 for each pupil eligible for free school meals or £2530 for children who are considered as looked after (CLA). 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. 

We also recieve funds for School-led tutoring and Recovery Premium. 

The school-led tutoring grant is to support disadvantaged pupils in catch-up learning and schools will select the pupils in need of support. This will focus on providing tuition to pupils eligible for pupil premium but also includes pupils with other types of disadvantage or additional needs. This includes special educational needs and disability (SEND) children who have a social worker, previously looked-after children, young carers and other vulnerable pupils.

However, if a school or academy trust feels that a pupil who does not fall into these categories would benefit from catch-up tutoring, the funding can be used to provide this.

The Recovery Premium Fund is also based on pupil premium eligibility. 

The strategy document below, identifies our plan for how these funds will be spent over the next 3 years.