Pupil Premium
The pupil premium is allocated to schools in respect of children from low-income families who are currently known to be eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) and children who have been looked after continuously for more than six months. This applies to both mainstream and non-mainstream settings.
In the 2021 to 2022 financial year, schools will receive the following funding for each child registered as eligible for free school meals at any point in the last 6 years:
- £1,345 for pupils in reception year to year 6
Schools will also receive £2,345 for each pupil who has left local-authority care because of 1 of the following:
- adoption
- a special guardianship order
- a child arrangements order
- a residence order
If a pupil has been registered as eligible for free school meals and has also left local-authority care for any of the reasons above, they will attract the £2,300 rate.
Children who have been in local-authority care for 1 day or more also attract £2,300 of pupil premium funding. Funding for these pupils doesn’t go to their school; it goes to the virtual school head (VSH) in the local authority that looks after the child. VSHs are responsible for managing pupil premium funding for looked-after children.
Schools are free to spend the Pupil Premium as they see fit to “close the gap” between children from disadvantaged circumstances and those above the low-income threshold – it is not linked to a specific child but is to be used for overall impact. However, they are held accountable for how they have used the additional funding to support pupils from low-income families.
We are to committed to raising the attainment and life chances of all our pupils, including those who are disadvantaged.
The Education Endowment Fund 2020 Rapid Research: Impact of Lockdown on the Attainment Gap report indicates that rigorous and sustained support will be essential for disadvantaged pupils to catch up with their peers. In light of this, we are doing our utmost to ensure that we provide rapid, targeted and highly effective support to all our pupils, particularly those who are most vulnerable.
We provide consistent high-quality teaching and work hard to ensure that our pupils are able to access to a broad and balanced curriculum. We quickly identify potential barriers to learning and use research-based interventions and targeted booster and challenge groups to support pupils of all abilities to make rapid progress. We rigorously monitor the impact of these interventions on pupils’ progress and attainment and adapt our approach in light of this where necessary.
Our children make good progress from their starting points and leave fully prepared for secondary school and future employment.
For further information, please read our full pupil premium spending strategy and self evaluation.
Eligibility for Free School Meals
A parent may wish to check their child’s eligibility for Pupil Premium or continued free school meals (from Key Stage 2) which you can do here.
You will need to enter your name, address, national insurance number or asylum support service number. In addition, you will need to provide your child’s name, date of birth and identify the school they are attending.
Eligibility Criteria
Parents/guardians in England do not have to pay for school meals if they receive any of the following:
- Income Support
- Income-Based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Income related Employment and Support Allowance
- Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- Child Tax Credit, provided they are not entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual income (as assessed by HM Revenue & Customs) that does not exceed £16,190
- Working Tax Credit ‘run-on’ – the payment someone may receive for a further four weeks after they stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
- Guarantee element of State Pension Credit
Pupil Premium is an important payment for schools and a really good opportunity for eligible parents to get even more support for their children in schools.
For more information about free meals in Haringey, please contact Haringey on 020 8489 1000.
If you think your child may possibly be eligible for free school meals, even if you don’t want your child to eat school meals, please call into the office to collect a claim form. Every child who is eligible generates valuable income for the school.