Pupil Premium

Pupil Premium is a government funding allowance that is additional to the main funding schools receive. It was introduced in April 2011 to improve education outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in schools in England.  It is used for the benefit of pupils who are eligible for free school meals, or have been eligible in the past six years, those who have been adopted from care or have left care and children who are looked after by the local authority. Evidence shows that these pupils generally face additional challenges in reaching their potential at school and often do not perform as well as other pupils.

Schools decide how they spend their Pupil Premium, as they are best placed to assess what additional provision should be made for individual pupils within their care to ensure it has the highest possible impact on attainment and success. Expenditure is monitored closely, with all schools accountable for the impact of the money spent. 

Purpose

The main focus of James Marks Academy spending of pupil premium is to improve outcomes for our vulnerable pupils, and therefore narrow the gap between pupils on free school meals and the rest of the school population. To do this we

• Ensure teaching and learning opportunities meet the needs of all complex vulnerable pupils, who all have an EHCP.

• Provision is made for all pupils who belong to every vulnerable group, given our small cohort.

• In making provision for socially disadvantaged pupils, we recognise that not all pupils who receive free school meals will be socially disadvantaged.

• We also recognise that not all pupils who are socially disadvantaged are registered, or qualify for, free school meals. We reserve the right to allocate pupil premium funding to support any pupil, or groups of pupils, the school has legitimately identified as being socially disadvantaged.

• Pupil premium funding will be allocated following a needs analysis, which will identify priority classes, groups and/or individuals. Limited funding and resources means that not all pupils receiving free school meals will be in receipt of pupil premium intervention at the same time.

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How is funding allocated for the Pupil Premium Grant (PPG)?

The school annually updates the funding allocation, which is included at the bottom of the page.