Pupil Premium

Marnel Junior School Pupil Premium Funding Report

At Marnel Junior School we have the very highest expectations of, and aspirations for, all our pupils. Our Governing Body share our belief that every pupil should have equal opportunities to achieve the best possible life chances, and where no child gets left behind.

We share the drive to ensure that every pupil is given every opportunity to fulfil their potential and leave our school with a prepared for modern society and having high aspirations for the future.

We make every effort to ensure that disadvantaged pupils receive outstanding support and believe that our core business is to ensure all of our pupils make outstanding progress as a result of an enriched curriculum which promotes cultural capital, skills and knowledge. The Department for Education (DfE) provides additional Pupil Premium Funding (PPF) to all schools based on the number of pupils eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) and the number of children who are looked after (CLA) and the aim of PPF is to support schools in raising the achievement of the most disadvantaged pupils.

In making provision for socially disadvantaged pupils, we recognise that not all pupils who receive free school meals will be socially disadvantaged. We also recognise that not all pupils who are socially disadvantaged are registered or qualify for free school meals. We reserve the right to allocate the Pupil Premium funding to support any pupil or groups of pupils the school has legitimately identified as being socially disadvantaged

As a school, we recognise that it is not the funding itself that will improve achievement and attainment, but how it is used. The Department for Education (DfE) expects us to use PPF appropriately and to be accountable for the decisions we make. We also know that Ofsted consider the active involvement of governors as one of the characteristics of schools that are successfully using their PPF to improve achievement and that successful schools; “ ..thoroughly involve governors in the decision making and evaluation process”.

At Marnel Junior School, through effective and rigorous planning, monitoring and controls, governors ensure the efficient management of PPF and this leads to the effective deployment of staff and resources to the benefit of all groups of pupils. We have been asked whether PPF should be used exclusively for pupils on FSM and we believe that it is difficult to spend PPF on the improvement of teaching and learning without the benefits impacting on other pupils. Equally, it is morally difficult to exclude a child who is not on FSM from accessing any initiatives if they could clearly benefit from them. However, we are also clear in the way that interventions are targeted to ensure FSM pupils benefit from PPF.

During the COVID19 pandemic, the government has also allocated recovery funding to schools, previously known as catch-up funding. This allocation is now included in the budget for the PP strategy.

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

Pupil Premium Government Information

Pupil premium strategy 2024-2025

Pupil premiumn strategy 2023-2024

Pupil Premium strategy with review 22-23