Pupil Premium Funding
The Pupil Premium Grant is allocated by local authorities, or the DfE, to schools and academies with pupils between Reception and Year 11. To receive the grant your child must fit a certain eligibility criteria.
Schools have the freedom to spend the Premium, which is additional to their underlying budget, in a way they think will best support raising the achievement of funded pupils in comparison with their non-Pupil Premium peers within the school and nationally, whatever their academic starting point and potential. As well as receiving extra funding for Pupil Premium, children also receive a free school meal (FSM).
To find out if your child is eligible, please visit the school office and we will be happy to help.
We will use the Pupil Premium funding received by the school to deliver our overall vision to those pupils who receive it and the wider school community where possible.
Notice: If you think your child is eligible for Pupil Premium funding and you have not applied, please speak to the school office immediately. Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 receive Universal Free School Meals (UFSM) but this entitlement is lost in Year 3 onwards unless your child receives Pupil Premium funding. UFSM and Pupil Premium are two different entitlements so please speak to the school office if you are unsure or have any questions.
What is Pupil Premium?
Pupil premium is the additional funding provided to schools by national government. It has been awarded to schools to help them ‘narrow the gap’ in performance that exists nationally between vulnerable pupils and their peers. The level of funding allocated to schools is based upon the number of pupils who:
- Are currently eligible and registered for Free School Meals (FSM) or have been registered for Free School Meals (FSM) in the last six years (referred to ‘Ever 6’)
- Have been in local authority care for 6 months or more (now one day or more)
- Children whose parents are currently, or were, in the Armed Forces (Service Children) attract a Service Premium to help with pastoral support.
Our Funding
It is for the school to decide how its Pupil Premium funding is spent, since we are best placed to assess what additional provision should be made for our pupils at a local level.
For full details on how the school’s Pupil Premium funding is spent, the targets we have, and how the effects of it are measured, please click on the Pupil Premium Strategy Statement in the attachments section on this page.
Applying for Free School Meals
If you think your child is eligible to benefit from pupil premium funding and to receive Free School Meals please apply directly via the Suffolk County Council website.
Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM)
All infant pupils in reception, year 1 and year 2 are eligible for Universal Infants Free School Meals.
If you receive benefits and your child gets Universal Infant Free School Meals you should still apply online for Free School Meals. This will allow our school to receive extra funding that could support your child.
You can apply for Universal Infant Free School Meals as soon as your child’s place at school is confirmed.
FAQ’s
Your child will get free school meals if you receive any of the following:
- Income Support
- Income-based Job Seeker’s Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Guarantee element of State Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit but no element of Working Tax Credit and have an annual income (as assessed by HM Revenues & Customs) that does not exceed £16,190
- If you are supported under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- Working Tax Credit during the four-week period immediately after your employment finishes or after you start to work fewer hours per week
- Universal Credit (provided you have an annual net earned income of no more than £7,400 (£616.67 per month), as assessed by earnings from up to three of your most recent assessment periods).
To check if your child is eligible, apply online for an immediate response or call Suffolk County Council on 0345 606 6067 for advice.
If you have not been allocated a school place for your child yet, please wait for confirmation of this place before you apply for free school meals.
If your child is eligible for and has been registered to receive free school meals between 1 April 2018 and the end of the rollout of Universal Credits (currently expected to be March 2024), they will remain eligible until they finish the phase of schooling (primary or secondary) they are in at the end of Universal Credits rollout. This is regardless of any change to your circumstances.
If your child is attending a nursery school:
- they must be in a maintained school nursery as a registered pupil at the school
- your child must be in receipt of education before and after lunch on the same day
- you must be in receipt of a qualifying benefit (as described below)
- you should apply online by clicking the blue button below.