Pupil Premium, which is additional to main school funding, is one way we address the inequalities between free school meals (FSM) or similarly disadvantaged children and their peers.

The first and most important measure for maximising pupil achievement is high-quality teaching. We support our teachers in many ways, for example with additional non-contact time, and challenge them to be ambitious for children’s learning, e.g. through Performance Management Objectives.

In addition, we provide targeted support for pupils based on their individual needs through intervention and booster sessions.

Many of our families deal with challenging circumstances particularly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Where are problems are encountered, they pertain to the following:

• Social, emotional and mental health issues
• Attendance
• Speech, language and communication
• Access to wider opportunities
• Parental engagement and support

The Pupil Premium Grant is a powerful tool in helping to address inequalities associated with differences in Cultural Capital. We use it to support Pupil Premium Grant children to play musical instruments, take part in all school trips and residential journeys, targeted support through the National Tutoring Programme and help with uniform costs. We also use the Pupil Premium Grant to support children’s social, emotional and mental wellbeing through a robust pastoral offering such as nurture group sessions.

Our approach will be responsive to common educational challenges and individual pupils’ needs, rooted in robust diagnostic assessment, not assumptions, about the impact of disadvantage. The approaches we have adopted complement each other to help pupils excel. To ensure they are effective, we will:

• ensure disadvantaged pupils are challenged and supported in the work that they are set;
• act early to intervene at the point need is identified;
• adopt a whole school approach in which all staff take responsibility for disadvantaged pupils’ outcomes and raise expectations of what they can achieve.