Pupil Premium

How much do we receive?

Beech Hill Primary School receives £1,445 per pupil premium child, which has risen from £1,385 for the previous year. Based on the Autumn 2023 census this equates to £330, 870 for the 2023/2024 academic year. This is an increase of £5,395 from the previous year, and equates to four more pupil premium pupils than the same time last year.

Pupil Premium children currently make up 29% of the school population – the national average for all schools was 23.8% for 2022-2023.

What is our aim?

At Beech Hill Primary School, we are dedicated to ensuring that every pupil, including those that are disadvantaged, are provided with the best education possible. This will help them fulfil their academic potential and access a wide range of life experiences, which they otherwise may not have access to.

What is it?

Pupil Premium funding is the extra funding that is provided to schools to increase the attainment of disadvantaged children and close the gap between them and their non-disadvantaged peers.

Who is entitled to it?

The amount of funding is based on the number of pupils who:

Have qualified for Free School Meals (FSM).
Received Free School Meals previously (in the past six years) but no longer do (EVER6).
Have been in the care system for more than six months (LAC).
Have a parent or parents who are service personnel.

How do we decide what to spend it on?

The decision of how we make use of Pupil Premium funding is based on the specific hurdles that our disadvantaged children face; removing these barriers to learning is our primary objective. The budget allocation varies on an annual basis; we take an individual and differentiated approach to each pupil and groups of students, in order to ensure that their individual, and group, needs are addressed.

What are some of the ways we support our Pupil Premium pupils?

Our action plan details our three main strategies of quality-first teaching, targeted support and additional approaches we use, to support both Pupil Premium pupils’ academic attainment and social development through life experiences. We have adopted a range of strategies and initiatives; these include targeted support in class; preferential access to after school clubs and subsidised school trips. Our range of initiatives and individual strategies are evaluated and then updated or discarded on a regular basis.

How is the impact of our Pupil Premium spending measured?

The educational attainment and progress of each child at Beech Hill Primary School is tracked and evaluated on a termly basis. Further support is swiftly provided where necessary, while targeted interventions are utilised in order to guarantee that eligible pupils are able to benefit from the funding.

In order to ensure that our Pupil Premium funding targets are met, we maintain a culture of accountability that holds teaching and management staff responsible for the advancement of disadvantaged pupils.

What about pupils who are not entitled to Pupil Premium funding?

Of course, not all children who face disadvantages are eligible for Pupil Premium funding, while those who are disadvantaged sometimes fail to register; therefore, we strive to support all of our children to the best of our ability.

Is my child entitled to Free School Meals?

If your child is in years 3, 4, 5 or 6, and you believe that they may be entitled to Free School Meals, please do not hesitate to talk to a family worker, who will be happy to provide more information.

If your child is in nursery, reception, year 1 or year 2, they may also meet the criteria for FSM, despite receiving school meals free of charge. This means that the school may be entitled to Pupil Premium funding for your child and receive additional help.