Pupil Premium
Pupil Premium at Merebrook Infant School
At Merebrook, we use Pupil Premium funding to support disadvantaged pupils and close the attainment gap. This funding enables us to provide targeted support and small group work in key areas such as reading, writing, and maths, tailored to meet individual needs.
Our core values, Community, Pride, Aspire, guide our approach. We work closely with families, celebrate every child’s progress, and encourage all pupils to reach their full potential.
We regularly monitor progress and keep parents informed to ensure our support is effective and responsive to each child’s development.
What is Pupil Premium
The Pupil Premium is an allocation of funding provided to schools to support children who may be vulnerable to underachievement. The amount received is dependent on the number of children who are eligible and have claimed for free school meals at any time in the last six years.
We also receive funding for children who:
- have been looked after for one day or more
- have been adopted from care
Or who have left care under:
- a special guardianship order
- a residence order
- a child arrangement order.
Schools are free to spend the Pupil Premium funding as they see fit. However, we are held accountable for how we have used the additional funding to support pupils from low-income families. All schools are required to report on the amount of funding and how this is being used (see our Pupil Premium Strategy below).
Pupil Premium Strategy
For more details of this provision, funding and the outcomes for Pupil Premium funded children at Merebrook:
Free School Meals
With the increasing cost of living, we want to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming their Free School Meals. Free School Meals are available to pupils in receipt of, or whose parents are in receipt of, one or more of the following benefits:
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- The guaranteed element of Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
- Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
- Universal Credit - if you apply on or after 1 April 2018, your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)
If you think your child is eligible for Free School Meals, an application can be made to the school via this link: Online FSM Application (cloudforedu.org.uk).
When a student receives Free School Meals, the school is provided with financial funding that is used in 3 main areas to further support these students. Our strategy focuses on the following:
- High-quality teaching ensuring our staff have the most relevant training and guidance to deliver the best standards of Quality First Teaching. This wide approach aims to support all children in achieving their potential, aiming to support children to keep up.
- Targeted academic support such as provision of resources within subjects to improve engagement and outcomes support for children that are entitled to the Pupil Premium Grant enabling them to make the same progress as their peers both academically and socially.
- To develop our children as holistic individuals using wider strategies such as supporting extracurricular activities and educational visits.
Once your application is successful, you will receive notification directly from the application provider. It may take a few days for this to be reflected on your child’s account.
Standards and Performance – Link to docs on DfE website
For information on the DFE performance comparison website, please visit: Merebrook Infant School - Compare school and college performance data in England - GOV.UK