The Pupil Premium Grant (PPG) is funding received by the government to:

• raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils of all abilities to reach their potential

• support children and young people with parents in the regular armed forces

Pupils considered to be disadvantaged are eligible for PPG funding. These include:

• Pupils in year groups reception to year 6 recorded as receiving free school meals (FSM) (or in receipt of FSM over the last 6 years)

• Looked-after children (LAC) (including those looked after for at least one day)

• Post –LAC i.e. those children who have left local authority care through adoption, special

  guardianship or other arrangements.

• Service children

Schools are entitled to spend the grant as they see fit, if it is to demonstrably improve the attainment of eligible pupils. It is not a requirement to spend an equal amount on each pupil, or fund interventions that benefit only eligible pupils.

At St Helen’s, we recognise that the pupil premium funding is allocated to children entitled to free school meals and is a means of addressing some of the issues associated with social disadvantage and in particular, in narrowing and hopefully eventually closing any gap in attainment where this exists. In making appropriate provision we also acknowledge not all pupils FSM are socially disadvantaged. 

The Governing board of St Helen's ensures that there is an annual updated statement within the Pupil Premium Policy Strategy for parents on the school website, outlining how the Pupil Premium funding has been used to address the issue of ‘narrowing the gap’, for disadvantaged pupils. The DFE states that the report must include:

Information published in relation to the previous academic year:

• Details of how the pupil premium allocation was spent

• Information on the impact of that expenditure on eligible and other pupils Information published in relation to current academic year:

• The amount of the school’s pupil premium allocation

• A summary of the main barriers to educational achievement faced by eligible pupils

  at the school

• How the pupil premium allocation is to be spent to address these barriers and the

  reasons for the approach

• How the school will measure the impact and effect of its expenditure of the pupil

  premium allocation

• The date of the school’s next review of its pupil premium strategy