What is the pupil premium?

The pupil premium grant is designed to allow schools to help disadvantaged pupils by improving their progress and the exam results they achieve.

Schools get pupil premium funding based on the number of eligible pupils they have from the following groups:

• Free School Meals (now or in the last 6 years)
• Looked-after and/or previously looked-after children
• Services children (although the service premium is not part of pupil premium)

Schools can spend their pupil premium on pupils who do not meet the eligibility criteria but need extra support, especially for children who are/have been in contact with a social worker or act as a carer.

How should the pupil premium be spent?

School leaders are the best-placed to assess pupils' needs in the school and should direct/use the funding to improve attainment.

Evidence shows that pupil premium spending is most effective when using a tiered approach, targetting spending across the following 3 areas while focusing on teaching quality:

• Teaching
• Academic support
• Wider approaches, e.g. breakfast clubs, music lessons, educational trips and SALT.

The above targetted approaches aim to:

• increase pupils’ confidence and resilience;
• encourage pupils to be more aspirational;
• benefit non-eligible pupils.

How does Naunton Park Primary School use the pupil premium?

The online statement below explains how Naunton Park Primary School has in the past, plans to and is using the pupil premium to improve the progress and attainment of disadvantaged pupils and other non-eligible pupils in the school based on their needs.

Parents can learn more about how the school spends the premium by reading the strategy below. 

If a parent would like to know whether their child is eligible for this support, please read the letter below or contact admin@nauntonpark.gloucs.sch.uk    Applications for the funding can be made here: Apply for free school meals - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 

Pupil Premium and the Recover Curriculum (from September 2020 to July 2021)

Following the school's partial closure (from March 2020 until September 2020) the focus of Term 1's curriculum and the work being carried out using the Pupil Premium funding is centred around children's wellbeing, mental health and physical health.  As well as the usual curriculum being covered in class for all National Curriculum subjects, teachers' priority has been and is to ensure that all children feel happy, confident and positive about being back in school, being with their friends and about their learning. 

It's important to ensure that all children are ready to learn from first thing in the morning and throughout the school day.  School looks and feels a bit different for children, parents and staff at the moment, and therefore our priority is to ensure everyone is comfortable and feels safe and secure.

We have introduced a new PSHE curriculum to support our focus on mental health and wellbeing and we are using some of the Pupil Premium funding to support children's integration back into classroom environments following the partial closure.  We have already, since the school's full reopening, purchased Worry Monsters and placement mats in classrooms to allow children to share concerns, have a voice, feel comfortable in the classroom, respect one another's space and work collaboratively together.  Our growing pastoral team, thanks to Pupil Premium funding, has supported more children this term than ever before, providing a quiet space and time at the start of the day for those who find it hard to bridge the gap between home and school and our team are providing personalised and effective interventions for children throughout the school to support their social, emotional and mental health.  During unstructured times, like break and lunchtimes, our pastoral team are on hand to provide 1:1 or small group support to those who find being around so many children again difficult to manage or overwhelming.  The requipment and resources available to staff, for such interventions and for support in the classroom, are also a result of the Pupil Premium funding, for example art resources, Lego and reading books that focus on SEMH.

Together with the Sports Premium and PSHE curriculum, our focus to support children's mental health and wellbeing will be even more effective and beneficial for the children.