The Pupil premium is an additional allocation of funding to schools to support specific groups of children who are vulnerable to possible underachievement. It is allocated for children from low income families who are eligible for free school meals, those who are looked after by the local authority and the children of armed services personnel. This funding is based on children who have had free school meals at any time within a 6 year period (EFSM).
At Shefford Lower School we are committed to providing equality of opportunity for all our children and to enabling every child to achieve their best. We have a team of staff working together to support all levels of vulnerability, whether these be financial needs, learning needs, or welfare needs. The team includes our Deputy Head Teacher, Mrs Freeman, our SENDco, Miss Robinson, our family support worker, Mrs Parry, and our team in Poplar Class.
Children entitled to Pupil Premium make up 12% of the school roll. Below you will see some of the ways in which children’s learning and personal development is supported at Shefford Lower School:
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All classes in our school have additional adult support for at least 3 hours of every day. This ensures that the needs of our pupils can be met in small groups within their own classes.
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Children at risk of not making expected progress are supported through the Achievement for All programme.
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Children identified as being at risk of not making expected progress from their starting points receive 1:1 tuition.
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Trained Teaching Assistants deliver phonic teaching and other interventions beyond classroom provision.
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We have a specialist trained Family Worker Teaching Assistant who is qualified to coach and support children and families.
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We provide before and after school clubs, lunchtime clubs, trips and visitors to enrich the curriculum and make sure that all children have additional learning experiences outside the normal school day.
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We employ a Play Therapist Counsellor to provide therapeutic support to children.
Impact of pupil premium:
We track and assess every child's progress and attainment. However, there are 2 key assessment points when this information is collated and reported to the Local Authority; Year 2 and Year 4. For this reason, during this tranisitional year to a new system, we have recorded these children's attainment in both the old levels and the new assessment without levels:
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At the end of KS1 (Year 2) 5 out of 7 children achieved age related expectations with 4 of these 5 exceeding age related expectations.
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Children in year 4 have made outstanding progress from the end of KS1. Every child's attainment is above expectations for the end of year 4, according to the same system of levels with which they have been tracked through the school.
PUPIL PREMIUM STRATEGY