St Augustine's Catholic Primary School

At St Augustine’s Catholic Primary School we have high aspirations for all of our children and believe that no child should be left behind. Every child in our care is valued, respected and equally entitled to develop their full potential whatever their background and irrespective of need. We are determined that every child has the opportunity to realise their full potential and all members of staff and governors accept their responsibility for disadvantaged pupils. 

What is Pupil Premium?

Pupil Premium is additional funding, from the government, provided to schools for supporting pupils from low income families to ensure that they benefit from the same opportunities as all other children. Research shows that pupils from deprived backgrounds underachieve when compared with others. The premium is provided to ensure that there is no difference in attainment between the two groups. In the financial year 2022-2023 the school will receive £1,385 for each child registered as eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years. Schools will receive £2,410 for each looked after pupil, or previously looked after pupil, who meets specified criteria.

There are three categories of children that qualify for pupil premium:

• Children who are eligible for free school meals
• Looked after children
• Armed Forces children

Schools have the freedom to spend the funding in a way in which they feel best supports the most vulnerable pupils.

At St Augustine’s staff and governors are committed to meeting all our children’s pastoral, social and academic needs within a safe, caring and supportive environment, in line with our Christian Values.  We aim to ensure that all our pupils benefit from the funding to enable them to reach their full potential by using a range of strategies to help them to overcome barriers to learning by developing communication and language skills and improving attainment in English and Maths.

We aim to:

• Ensure all children are able to reach their full potential in an engaging, stimulating and challenging environment
• Provide a stable, consistent school environment where children feel safe
• Ensure that Pupil Premium funding allocated to our school is used solely for its intended purpose. Never confuse eligibility for the Pupil Premium with low ability, and focus on supporting the disadvantaged pupils to achieve the highest levels regardless of ability
• Foster independence skills so that children take responsibility for their own learning
• Ensure that no child is excluded from any activities and opportunities available in school because of deprivation
• Ensure all school staff are involved in school improvement – a drive and capacity to continually improve through school development planning and school self-evaluation
• Ensure all staff are involved in the analysis of data so that they are fully aware of strengths and weaknesses across the school
• Be transparent in our reporting of how we have used the Pupil Premium, so that our parents, interested stakeholders and Ofsted are fully aware of how this additional resource has been used to make a difference
• Analyse reasons for areas of underachievement or attainment gaps and target support in these areas making adjustments when necessary
• Demonstrate the impact of each aspect of spending on the outcomes for the children
• Ensure there is robust monitoring and evaluation in place to account for the use of Pupil Premium by the school and governing body
•  Use high quality teaching and learning as the preferred way to narrow gaps in attainment in the first instance supported by high quality interventions
• Have a clear and robust performance management system for all our staff, and include discussions about pupils eligible for the Pupil Premium in performance management and pupil progress meetings
• Ensure the funding is used effectively with due regard for achieving value-for-money

Provision

The majority of our work through the pupil premium will be aimed at accelerating progress and moving children to at least age related expectations. Initially this will be in communication, English and maths. Supporting the well-being of pupils is high priority in enabling children to become confident and resilient learners.

The range of provision the staff and Governors consider making for this group include:

• Providing 1-1 and small group work with an experienced teacher or teaching assistant focused on overcoming gaps in learning.
• Additional teaching and learning opportunities provided through trained TAs or external agencies.
• Providing a ‘Nurture Group’ to improve attainment by improving the social and emotional dimensions of learning for targeted children throughout KS1 and KS2.
• Supporting families who are experiencing challenging circumstances, including securing support through the Early Help referral process.
• Continued professional development for staff delivering the support and for class teachers to ensure that support delivered is targeted to benefit their learning in class.
• Purchase of equipment /resources to support children in their development.
• In addition, the school recognises that the wider curriculum supports and enriches children’s development in communication, English and maths, and therefore funding will also be allocated to enable children to participate fully and actively in wider and extra-curricular activities; including class visits and residential visits

Reporting

It will be the responsibility of the Headteacher, or a delegated member of staff, to report to the Governors on: 

• The progress made towards narrowing the gap, for socially disadvantaged pupils.
• An outline of the provision that was made since the last meeting.
• An evaluation of the cost effectiveness and impact of the provision in terms of the progress made by the pupils receiving a particular provision.

Parents will receive information as to the progress of pupils through personal information sent home and through reporting of assessment results at the end of each term of the academic year.

Reporting to the Governing Body will take place termly.

Published on our school website will be:

• Our pupil premium allocation for the current academic year
• Details of how we intend to spend our allocation including barriers to learning
• Details of how we spent our previous academic year’s allocation
• How it made a difference to the attainment of disadvantaged pupils
• The funding that is allocated for the current financial year