Pupil Premium Statement and Action Plan

Overview
Every school has a duty to ensure that every child is given the best possible chance of achieving his/her potential. The Government provides Pupil Premium funding, which is additional to the core school funding, to help address national inequalities between the achievements of children eligible for free school meals, children in care, children adopted from local authority care, and those with parents in the armed forces.
The Pupil Premium is allocated to schools based on the number of students who are known to be eligible for free school meals, or who have been eligible at some point in the last six years, children who have been continuously in local authority care for more than six months, children who have been adopted from local authority care, and children with a parent in the armed forces now or within the past five years. It is for the school to decide how the Pupil Premium is spent, as the school is best placed to assess what additional provision should be made for individual students in its care.
The focus of our strategy is to promote progress and well-being and to remove barriers to learning for students eligible for this funding. We nurture skills and talents and we enable children who qualify for Pupil Premium to have full access to extra-curricular activities.
Penrith is located in a sparsely populated rural area, where unemployment is low. Average wages however are also low, even though house prices and rents remain comparatively high.
Life can be very difficult for some families, who once qualified for such benefits as free school meals, but now find that the thresholds for application have risen.
Other families may find rural isolation a problem, and this will have been exacerbated by the Covid – 19 pandemic. This has also been a stressful time for those whose income is based on tourism or hospitality, and those in the healthcare and emergency services and other key workers.
It is hoped that the Pupil Premium will help children from low-income families to achieve their potential and thrive in a school that is socially inclusive.
How does the school promote the Pupil Premium?
We encourage all parents to apply for free school meals if they think a child may be eligible. Regular reminders are sent by Parentmail. We ask parents to contact the school for detailed information, or to apply directly to: http://www.cumbria.gov.uk/childrensservices/schoolsandlearning/fsm.asp
Mr Munro contacts all parents to make them aware of the funding streams available to support children and provides the following information:
Pupil Premium
If your child is in Year 7, 8, 9, 10 or 11 and receives free school meals or has received free school meals at any point in the past six years, or has been adopted from Local Authority care, or has a parent in the armed services either now or within the past five years, he or she is also entitled to additional funding for curricular visits and equipment. This funding has already been placed directly into school budgets. Please do not hesitate to let us know if there is anything your child needs to support him or her at school.
We take a Piaget-based approach in our approach to using Pupil Premium funding, and try to address basic needs first by ensuring that children are eating regular meals and have appropriate clothing and shoes, before addressing wider issues to support inclusion and eventually academic success, creativity and self-fulfilment.
Please contact Mr Munro to access this funding.
16-19 Bursary
If your child is in Year 12 or 13 and meets any of the following criteria:
  • is in receipt of free school meals
  • is in receipt of income support
  • family qualifies for means-tested benefits
  • is in Local Authority care
  • is a care leaver
  • is a carer
  • is disabled
then funding is available to help with curricular trips and equipment and resources to support learning.
Often we will match fund the more expensive trips, such as the Venice art trip. We can also help with funding for travel to and from school, which is particularly important in rural Cumbria, where we have one of the largest and most sparsely populated catchment areas of any school in the country. We support our 16-19 Bursary students through the UCAS process and will pay for UCAS applications and transport for university visits.
Application forms are available online from the school website. Go to the ‘Policies’ section and then to ’Bursary 16-19 Policy’.
Free School Meals
If you think your child might be eligible for free school meals, please contact Miss Combellack or Mrs Fraser through reception, to find out how to apply. If you prefer to contact the local authority directly, you can do so by clicking on the link below:
http://www.cumbria.gov.uk/childrensservices/schoolsandlearning/fsm.asp
Even if your child chooses not to eat school lunches, the application will ensure that other funding (Pupil Premium or 16-19 Bursary) becomes available for your child.
Pupil Premium will cover purchases, and can also be used to purchase new uniform, shoes and equipment.
How do we use the Pupil Premium in this school?
Mr Munro writes to the parents of all children who qualify for Pupil Premium to consult them about their children’s learning needs, and allocates funding after discussion with the Senior Management Team.
  • The Pupil Premium is used to close the gap between the achievement of eligible pupils and their peers.
  • As far as its powers allow, the school will use the additional funding to address any underlying inequalities between children eligible for Pupil Premium and others.
  • We will ensure that the additional funding reaches the pupils who need it most and that it makes a significant impact on their education and lives.
The Pupil Premium Review  and Action Plan gives more detail on how much money was received and what it was spent on.