Pupil Premium Funding 

The Pupil Premium is an allocation of additional funding provided to schools to support specific groups of children who are vulnerable to possible underachievement.  These include pupils who are entitled to free school meals (FSM), those looked after by the local authority and children of armed service personnel.  The intended effect of this funding is to accelerate progress and raise attainment.    

It is for schools to decide how the Pupil Premium is spent since they are best placed to assess what additional provision should be made for the individual pupils within their responsibility. 

At Mary Tavy and Brentor Primary School:

Principles

• We ensure that teaching and learning opportunities meet the needs of all of the pupils.
• We ensure that appropriate provision is made for pupils who belong to vulnerable groups, this includes ensuring that the needs of socially disadvantaged pupils are adequately assessed and addressed
• We also recognise that not all pupils who are socially disadvantaged are registered or qualify for free school meals. 
• Pupil premium funding will be allocated following a needs analysis which will identify priority classes, groups or individuals. 

Pupil Premium is additional funding given to schools to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and close the gap between them and their peers. We receive funding based on the number of pupils who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years. 

We encourage all parents and carers who think they maybe eligible to apply for free school meals when they enrol their child in school or at any point due to changing personal circumstances, as this can help your child to attract additional ‘pupil premium‘ funding to support learning. 

Apply through the Devon Citizens Portal. This is the quickest and easiest way to apply and will result in you getting an instant decision. Alternatively, call the Education Helpline on 0345 155 1019. Please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Davies if you have any queries.

Key principles for using Pupil Premium at Mary Tavy and Brentor: 

1. We are highly committed to raising achievement for pupils who are eligible for Pupil Premium and know these pupils must make faster progress than non-eligible pupils and are determined to achieve this.
2. We create a package of support aimed to tackle the range of barriers including: attendance, behaviour, external factors, professional development focusing on improving outcomes for eligible pupils, improving the quality of teaching and learning, language acquisition, parental engagement, opportunities for first-hand experiences and development of  skills.
3. We use assessment systems to track and enable thorough analysis of data (Reading, Writing and Maths) to identify pupils who are under-achieving and why.
4. We direct resources and interventions to accelerate progress of eligible pupils and close the attainment gap compared to their peers.
5. We use data to carefully track the impact of targeted spending (interventions, projects or pedagogy) on attainment and progress of eligible pupils.
6. We have a clear overview of how funding is allocated and the difference it is making to the outcomes of pupils termly.
7. We ensure class teachers and subject leaders know which pupils are eligible for Pupil Premium so they can take responsibility for accelerating progress and accountability is shared across the academy.
8. Our Governing Body is ambitious for pupils and closely monitors the school’s effectiveness in closing the gap between different groups of pupils

Please read the information below which gives details of our Pupil Premium Strategy and how we allocate the funding.