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

Background:

The Pupil Premium is an allocation of funding, additional to the main school funding, which schools receive according to the number of children in specific groups. Schools receive Pupil Premium for:

All children eligible for free school meals (FSM)

All children who have been eligible for free school meals (FSM) at any point in the last 6 years

All children in service families

All children who have been looked after continuously for more than 6 months by someone other than their immediate family.

The number of children at our schools who are eligible for free school meals is consistently higher than the national average. The percentage of children who have been eligible for free school meals at some point is always around 50%. The social and economic backgrounds of the pupils is below average, with many of our families having limited resources to make ends meet.

Our data shows that children enter EYFS below age appropriate development in writing and more crucially in speaking which affects the children’ language.

These backgrounds, together with historically low aspirations, provide the focus for our Pupil Premium spend.

Ofsted Inspectors and Governors will ask:

The level of pupil premium received by the school in the current academic year and levels of funding received in previous academic years

How the school has spent the pupil premium and why it has decided to spend it in the way that it has. This incorporates whether the funding is targeted at the groups for whom it is intended

What are our key strategies to close the attainment and progress gaps for FSM and pupil premium pupils at Sheerness West Federation (Rose Street and West Minster Primary Schools)?:

At SWF we have used extensive research from the Sutton Trust and applied the Educational Endowment Fund’s Toolkit to evaluate the targeted strategies we use to close the gaps in achievement and progress for all our children.

The quality of teaching and learning is the most important factor in raising the attainment for all pupils. This is particularly true for pupils from less affluent backgrounds. This remains a consistent and relentless focus for our schools and forms the focus of our staff training and support from the senior leadership team at the schools.

At SWF all matters relating to free school meals and pupil premium are treated confidentially and there is never an assumption that the children from these families will be less able. On the contrary we expect every child to achieve highly and succeed in all that they do. This is reflected in our aspirational mission statement which was formulated with the children at the schools; “At SWF dreams can come true with a positive view.”

We work tirelessly with our families and colleagues to make sure everyone involved with the child has high aspirations. In addition to our quality first teaching for all children additional targeted and universal interventions and support strategies are in place to ensure all children fulfil their potential. These can be found detailed in our current Pupil Premium targeted and universal spend document for 2020 – 2021 which is below.

In order to access the pupil premium grant for their families, parents need to disclose their children’s free school meal status. If parents do not disclose this information, which is held in the strictest confidence, the school does not receive additional funding to support the children’s education.

If your child receives free school meals, please contact the school office at the earliest convenience.

To check if you are eligible to receive Free School Meals please follow this link to the Kent County Council website where you can check you eligibility and apply online.

Please Click Here to find out more.