FUNDING
Pupil Premium
Pupil Premium students are identified by the government as belonging to one of the following categories: those in receipt of free school meals, those who have been at some point in the last six years, looked after children, adopted children, and children with at least one parent in the armed forces.
Background
All schools are allocated a proportion of their funding from central government which is called the “pupil premium”. The main pupil premium funding allocated to the school is based on the number of pupils who currently qualify for free school meals (FSM), or have qualified for FSM at any point in the last six years. This is called FSM Ever 6. The school also receives a smaller amount of pupil premium funding for eligible pupils who are looked after children, children of services families, and children adopted from care after 2005.
The Department for Education introduced the Service Pupil Premium (SPP) in April 2011 in recognition of the specific challenges children from service families face and as part of the commitment to delivering the armed forces covenant as such any pupil in Reception to Year 11, who has been flagged as a service child since the January 2011 census, will continue to receive the premium (Ever 5 service child).
In order to be eligible for the SPP the following must apply;
- One of their parents is serving in the regular armed forces
- They have been registered as a ‘service child’ in the school census at any point since 2011
- one of their parents died whilst serving in the armed forces and the pupil receives a pension under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme or the War Pensions Scheme
- Pupils with a parent who is on full commitment as part of the full time reserve service are classed as service children
Pupil premium funding, and those pupils who are eligible for it, remain under constant review to ensure the school combines high-impact support and intervention with value for money. Pupil premium funding at The Ridgeway School is carefully ring-fenced and always spent on the targeted group of children, although others may benefit from this intervention. It is applied to all pupils across the ability range. Although the cohort includes a significant number of lower prior attaining pupils, it also includes AGAT (able gifted and talented) pupils whom equally support with their learning.
Please take a moment to review some of the ideas and documents on this website relating to our support for Pupil Premium students.
If you think you are eligible for Free School Meals, please click the link below and find out how to apply.
Check eligibility for free school meals
If you have any questions or ideas about how the school can further support your child, please contact the Pupil Premium Manager, Sarah Hill, on hills@ridgewayschool.com or via phone on 01793 846100 (ext 202).
Core Principles
The principal, staff, and governors accept their responsibility for pupils eligible for the pupil premium.
- All staff are dedicated to ensuring the gap in attainment and achievement closes between those pupils eligible for the pupil premium and all other pupils, and that the school continues to promote a fully inclusive comprehensive ethos.
- All staff recognise the importance of high expectations for all students and the need for quality-first teaching to develop knowledge and skills through a mastery approach to learning.
- All staff understand that the pupil premium funding is best utilised when directed at personalising learning for all eligible pupils so that they may achieve more than they first thought possible.
The pupil premium funding is used to address the main barriers to learning, supporting a variety of strategies to promote social inclusion and accelerate progress for eligible pupils. While the specific support provided to students is based on individual need, there are seven non-negotiables that underpin the aspiration for how the funding is allocated.
Vision
To ensure learners eligible for support through pupil premium funding:
- Are given priority in the checking of learning, provision of feedback, and planning of lessons.
- Improve their literacy and numeracy to enable access to the whole curriculum.
- Are supported in having high aspirations for their future education and careers.
- Remain in education or training post-16 and are able to access level 3 courses where appropriate.
- Feel a sense of belonging to the school community and engage in the full range of opportunities available to them across the school.
- Attain outcomes that enable them to pursue their chosen pathway.
As part of our efforts to achieve our vision, we use student profiling to address any specific barriers to learning that inform classroom teaching, intervention, and wider support.