Pupil Premium
What is Pupil Premium ?
Pupil Premium is an allocation of funding from the Government that is given separately to the main school budget. The government provide this money to help school address the current national underlying inequalities between children eligible for free school meals (FSM) and their peers. The funding is to ensure that provision is in place for those disadvantaged children who need it most.
The pupil premium was introduced in April 2011 and is allocated to schools to work with pupils who have been registered for free school meals at any point in the last six years (known as ‘Ever 6 FSM’). There is also an allocation for children who are “Looked After”, adopted or children of service personnel.
The percentage of pupils at Burlington Junior School in receipt of the pupil premium grant is 20%. This is broadly in line with the national average (21%) and is higher than the average for Kingston Upon Thames (15%). We have strong links with our local infant school and with the local secondary schools to ensure that transition is smooth for our most vulnerable pupils. Our Pupil Premium Strategy contains information about how we aim to advance equality of opportunity for these pupils throughout their school life.
Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium/pupil-premium
An evidenced based approach to spending
Research has found that disadvantaged pupils have been worst affected by the impact of the pandemic. It is therefore more important than ever that school strategies focus on support for disadvantaged pupils. Burlington Junior school have adopted the suggested tiered-approach to spending. The three tiers are as follows:
Tier 1: Improve Teaching
Schools arrange training and professional development for all their staff to improve the impact of teaching and learning for pupils.
Tier 2: Academic support
Schools should decide on the main issues stopping their pupils from succeeding at school and use the pupil premium to buy extra help.
Tier 3: Wider approaches
This may include non-academic use of the pupil premium such as:
School breakfast clubs
Music lessons for disadvantaged pupils
Help with the cost of educational trips or visits
Speech and language therapy
Schools may find using the pupil premium in this way helps to:
Increase pupil’s confidence and resilience
Encourage pupils to be more aspirational
Benefit non-eligible pupils
An image of the Pupil Premium staff-training board in the staffroom.
“The PPG Champion is ambitious for the children he works with, his passion for this pupil group’s success is evident and he is determined to change mind-sets and ensure that the gaps for these pupils continues to reduce and to provide the children with the best preparation for life beyond Burlington. His work is admirable and will have impact on some of the school’s most vulnerable children.”
Statement made in a report from our School Improvement Partner in January 2022
To find out more information and whether your child is eligible for Free School Meals, please click here.
Pupil Premium Contacts
For more information on our Pupil Premium strategy please contact:
Charlott Kreczman (Pupil Premium Leader)
Julie Kerr (School Business Manager)