The aim of the Government's Pupil Premium is to raise achievement among disadvantaged children. It will provide additional funding for disadvantaged pupils to ensure they benefit from the same educational opportunities as pupils from wealthier families.

The Pupil Premium has a number of wider aims:

• to increase social mobility;
• to enable more pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds to get to the top universities;
• to reduce the attainment gap between the highest and lowest achieving pupils nationally.
   

Barriers to Learning

On entry to school listening and attention skills, and readiness to learn are low, particularly with those children who access this funding. The ability to manage feelings and behaviour as well as knowledge and understanding of the world again is less well established with these particular children. When these factors put together this can hinder attainment and progress in reading, writing, maths and phonics in Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1.

Parental engagement (throughout the school) in home reading routines and supporting homework can often (but not always) be sporadic for disadvantaged groups.

External agencies including Children Social Care and Educational Psychology have often supported a number of these children.

Measuring the Impact

· Summative and formative assessments including progress in books

· On-going teacher assessments and standardised tests

· Termly pupil progress meetings informing impact on progress and attainment

· Evidence based interventions using before and after assessment data

· Individual education plans (4×4) to measure progress and meet outcomes against individual targets

Healthy Start

Healthy Start is administered by the Department of Health. To check that you qualify and to make a claim go the Healthy Start website.

If you qualify for Healthy Start through Child Tax Credit, you will automatically get an application form in the post.

With Healthy Start, you can get:

· Coupons to exchange for free vitamins

· Weekly vouchers to buy milk, fresh or plain frozen fruit and vegetables, or infant formula milk

Healthy Start – can I get it?

If you are on certain benefits, or you get Child Tax Credit and are on a low income, you could qualify. You will need to be at least 10 weeks pregnant, or have a child under four.

If you are pregnant and under the age of 18, you will automatically qualify whether or not you get other benefits or Child Tax Credit.

You will not qualify if you get Working Tax Credit, unless it is just the four week extension of your payments – often called a ‘run-on’. You may get a run-on after you stopped qualifying for Working Tax Credit – for example if you have stopped work or reduced your hours.

You do not have to get Child Benefit to qualify for Healthy Start.

Action Plan Review Date

End of Summer Term, 2024

Statement of Intent Review Date

31st December 2024