Pupil Premium

1. Rationale

Bourne Grammar School accepts responsibility for those students recognised as ‘disadvantaged’ and will aim to meet their pastoral, social and academic needs. Every child who is considered to be ‘disadvantaged’ is valued, respected and entitled to develop to his/her full potential, irrespective of disadvantage.

Introduced in April 2011, the Pupil Premium is a Government initiative that provides additional funding aimed at students from deprived backgrounds. Research shows that students from deprived backgrounds underachieve compared to their non-deprived peers. The Pupil Premium is provided in order to support these students in reaching their potential by accelerating their progress.

The Government has used students entitled to Free School Meals and those who are looked after as an indicator for deprivation. It has given a fixed amount of money to schools per student, based on the number of students registered for Free School Meals or/and who are looked after by the local authority. A premium has also been introduced for children whose parents are currently serving in the Armed Forces.

This Service Premium is designed to address the emotional and social well-being of these students.

2. Definition of Key Terms

Ever-6 – any student who has been eligible for and has claimed Free School Meals (FSM) at any point in the last six years. This is often known as ‘Ever-6’ FSM.
Free School Meals (FSM) – Free School Meals is a benefit awarded to children under the age of 19 where the parent or guardian is in receipt of qualifying benefits.
Looked After Child (LAC) – a child currently under the care of the local authority in some way, such as in a care home or in foster care.
Service Children – children and young people from families where one or more parent is currently serving in the British Armed Forces. In addition, children of parents serving in the Armed Forces of another nation who are stationed in England and who exercise parental care and responsibility are classed as Service Children.

3. Policy Aims

Bourne Grammar School will:

Ensure that the Pupil Premium funding reaches the students for who it was intended and that it has a significant impact on their education and lives.
Use Pupil Premium funding to provide additional educational support to improve the progress and raise the achievement for these students.
Allocate the funding to narrow the gap between the achievement of these students and their peers.
Use the additional funding to address any underlying inequalities between children eligible for Pupil Premium and others.

4. Policy Statements

The Pupil Premium will be clearly identifiable within the School budget.
The Headteacher, in consultation with the Governors and relevant senior staff, will decide how the Pupil Premium is spent for the benefit of the entitled students. Funding will be allocated following a needs analysis which will identify priority groups or individuals. The School welcomes dialog with parents of children who are in receipt of the Pupil Premium but it is the School, not the parent that decides how Pupil Premium is to be spent.
In making provision for socially disadvantaged students, the School recognises that not all students who receive or have received Free School Meals will be socially disadvantaged or underachieving. The School also recognises that not all students who are socially disadvantaged are registered for or qualify for Free School Meals. The School, therefore, reserves the right to allocate some Pupil Premium funding to support any groups of students that have been legitimately identified as being socially disadvantaged.
The School will assess what additional provision should be made for the individual student.
The School will be accountable for how it has used the additional funding to support the achievement of those students covered by the Pupil Premium.
The Headteacher will regularly report to the Governing Body and parents on how effective the intervention has been in achieving its aims, including publishing online information about how the Pupil Premium has been used.
The School will track the impact of the strategies put into place through the funding to ensure that we can show the value that has been added to the education of the entitled children.
The School will monitor, evaluate and review annually the success of the impact of the Pupil Premium funding.
The School will maintain confidentiality of all students who qualify for Pupil Premium when producing data and reports.
A Governor will be appointed to oversee this policy.

5. Processes and Procedures

The School will regularly seek to further develop strategies and interventions which can improve the progress and attainment of these students. Examples of the range of provision that may be put in place include:

Providing small group or 1:1 support with an experienced member of staff to focus on overcoming barriers to learning.
Facilitating students’ access to education and the curriculum through additional or specialist resources e.g. specialist Information Communication Technology (ICT) software.
Additional teaching and learning opportunities provided through learning mentors, trained teaching assistants or external agencies.

6. Roles and Responsibilities

The Headteacher must:
1. On an annual basis produce a report for the Governing Body that will include the progress made towards closing the gap, by year group, for disadvantaged students.
2. Publish on the School website how the Pupil Premium funding has been allocated for the current academic year, and publish a statement of how the School spent the money in the previous year and its impact on the attainment of students eligible for support through the Pupil Premium.
3. Receive regular feedback from the Assistant Headteacher (Pastoral) on matters concerning the progress and attainment of the cohort.
4. Evaluate the cost effectiveness, in terms of the progress made by the students receiving a particular provision, when compared with other forms of support.
The Governing Body must:
1. Monitor and review the School’s Pupil Premium Policy.
2. Ensure that the School uses the Pupil Premium and other resources to overcome barriers to learning, including reading, writing and mathematics.
3. Nominate a representative to act as Link Governor for Pupil Premium.
The Assistant Headteacher, (Pastoral) must:
1. Provide regular feedback to the Headteacher with regard to the progress and attainment of the Pupil Premium cohort.
2. Monitor and review the expenditure of the Pupil Premium budget allocation and its impact on attainment of the cohort.
3. Report regularly to the Link Governor for Pupil Premium regarding progress and attainment of the cohort.
4. Liaise regularly with the Business Manager regarding allocation and monitoring of the Pupil Premium budget.
5. Ensure that the expenditure of the funding allocated to the Pupil Premium cohort is monitored and reported to the Headteacher, and the relevant Governor sub-committees.
The Classroom Teachers must:
1. Ensure they are familiar with the School’s Pupil Premium cohort.
2. Use a range of teaching and learning strategies and intervention in order to support the Pupil Premium cohort to make at least expected progress across a key stage.
3. Raise any concerns about students on the Pupil Premium cohort with the relevant Subject Leader/Head of Year.
4. Provide feedback to the Assistant Headteacher, (Pastoral) regarding provision for students on the Pupil Premium cohort.

7. Monitoring and Reviews

The Head in conjunction with the Assistant Headteacher, (Pastoral) will determine the monitoring and review arrangements for the School.
The Assistant Headteacher, (Pastoral) will report on the management and progress of the policy to the Governing Body annually.
The Pastoral and Community Committee will review the policy at least every two years.

Date of next Review:

February 2019