The pupil premium was introduced to improve the education and outcomes of children who might face more or different challenges.
There are various reasons why a child might be eligible for the pupil premium, including their family’s financial circumstances.
Primary schools receive £1,320 extra funding for each eligible child every year. Once a child is deemed eligible for pupil premium, they are funded as such for six years, even if their family circumstances change.
This additional funding is more important than ever since, as you know, school budgets are very tight. Pupil premium funding is spent very carefully at COLPAI to make sure it is reaching those pupils who need it most.
If you think your child might be eligible for pupil premium, you can apply at https://ems.islingtonschools.net/CitizenPortal_LIVE/en. Ms Robey would be more than happy to meet with you to fill out the online form together. If you would like to make an appointment, please contact her through the school office.
We hope it goes without saying that our pupils’ best interests are at the heart of everything we do at COLPAI. The more children who receive pupil premium funding, the more we can do ‘above and beyond’ to give them the brilliant education they deserve.
Your child might be eligible for pupil premium if you receive:
- Income Support;
- Income–based Jobseeker’s Allowance;
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance;
- Child Tax Credit if your taxable income is less than £16,190 and you are not entitled to Working Tax Credit;
- the guaranteed element of Pension Credit;
- support under Section VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999;
- Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for four weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit;
- Universal Credit.
Our reports on Pupil Premium can be downloaded at the bottom of the page.
What is the Pupil Premium Grant?
The Pupil Premium is a government grant initiative that targets money to children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds. It is determined by eligibility for free school meals, for Looked After children and children of service personnel. Research shows that these groups of pupils underachieve in comparison with their peers and the premium is provided to enable these vulnerable pupils to achieve their full potential.
What are our aims for the use of the grant?
At COLPAI, we are driven by an ambition to provide an exceptional education for all children. As such we have high aspirations and ambitions for our children and we are determined that all pupils, whatever their background, should succeed. We aim for educational outcomes that compare favourably with the best nationally and we will do whatever it takes to ensure our children flourish, achieve and succeed. In setting up our school, we endeavor to create a culture where we inspire a passion and dedication for learning, making a difference to children’s life chances. A proportion of our pupils experience a wide variety of barriers to learning and live in challenging social and economic circumstances. In determining how the funding should be spent we carefully consider the challenges faced by these children which may include: less support at home; lower levels of language and communication skills on entry to school; a lack of confidence; personal, social and emotional difficulties; and attendance and punctuality issues. There may be complex family needs which hinder the whole development of the child. We aim to utilise this funding with optimal impact to support the social mobility of our most vulnerable children.
What is the context and characteristics of the school?
COLPAI is a new two-form entry school, which opened in 2017 with two Reception classes. Once in on our permanent site there are plans to further expand EYFS provision by opening a nursery and to offer 2-year- old places. Our school is set within inner city London, in the culturally and economically diverse and vibrant area of south Islington and the City. Our pupils reflect the make-up of the local area providing a wealth of cultures, ethnicities and languages spoken. As an inclusive community school, we welcome pupils with SEND. The school delivers a core offer for extended schools including breakfast club and after school club to support working parents. For the academic year 2017/18 our pupil premium allocation is £10,198 providing additional funding to support 20% of our students who are eligible for PP.
How will we maximise the impact of our pupil premium spending and achieve the best value for money?
We believe we can optimise the impact of our pupil premium spending by following these key principles:
Senior Leaders, teaching and support staff, at every level, are involved in the analysis of data so everyone is aware of strengths and areas of development across the school and the COLPAI team has a shared ownership and responsibility for our successes and for driving school improvements. In determining strategies that are most effective, we use tried and tested, evidence-based approaches embedded in research.
All staff are made aware of who our vulnerable PP pupils are and all PP children benefit from the additional funding so that their attainment is raised at every level.
Our teachers promote positive attitudes to learning so that children believe in themselves and are encouraged every step of the way. We only appoint staff who share in the belief that all children, despite their starting point and background, can succeed and our job is to find strategies to support and help vulnerable children to problem solve and overcome barriers through challenge and support.
At COLPAI we set high expectations of excellence for all and require excellence of all. To ensure consistency and continuity of good practice our SLT ensures rigorous and robust implementation of school policies and regularly shares and disseminates excellence in practice. As a school committed to securing the highest caliber staff, we understand the importance of providing high quality CPD, alongside mentoring and supporting colleagues. Through robust and rigorous phase moderation, which takes place internally and across schools, we secure a consistent understanding of what constitutes excellence and a collegiate understanding of levelling in order to make consistent judgements. As required, we sign post and draw upon external expertise to ensure continued improvement and development.
SLT will ensure individual interventions: meet the bespoke needs of the child; enable clear communication between the teacher and TA; ensure phase leaders provide strong leadership and support for their phase; ensure support staff have access to high quality CPD and are well trained to deliver interventions; support draws upon additional expertise of the OT, EP, SaLT, CAMHS etc; are tailored to the precise needs of the child, be that delivered cohort based, group or 121 as appropriate.
We draw upon a wide range of evidence and data to make informed decisions about the impact of the PP spend and this will include: achievement data; pupil work; observations; learning walks and drop-ins; case studies; pupil progress meeting to which teachers and support staff contribute; pupils receive ongoing feedback about their progress and learning and how they could make it even better; parents are regularly appraised of their child’s progress; interventions are reviewed and adapted if they are not working; the HT maintains an overview of PP spending.
The Head Teacher’s annual report will provide a statement to parents, published via the school website, providing an overview of how the funding has been utilised and will evaluate its impact on diminishing the gap for pupils eligible for PP in relation to their peers.
If a pupil does not have free school meals but may be entitled to them because of the family income level, it is essential that parents contact the office (in confidence) for more information: denitsa.petkova@islingtonprimary.cola.org.uk.
Even if a parent does not wish for their child to have a free school meal, that’s OK, but it is important to still register the child as FSM because the school can then claim Pupil Premium funding of £1,300 which will, without doubt, benefit the child.