Pupil Premium Funding
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 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.
Is your child entitled to free school meals?
As you know, all children who are in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2 in a state-funded school are offered a free healthy school lunch. These meals will be freshly prepared in our school kitchen on every school day.
Did you know that children in other school years are also offered a free school lunch if their parent is receiving certain benefits?
If your child is eligible for this there is no requirement for him/her to have the school meal every day, they can just pick the days that they like and bring packed lunch on the others. Registering could raise money for your child’s school.
Whatever year group your child is in, registering for free meals not only means that your child is provided with a meal but also could raise an extra £1,300 for your child’s school, to fund valuable support like extra tuition, additional teaching staff, after school activities and help with payment for trips etc.
This additional money, called ‘Pupil Premium’, is available from central government for every child whose parent is receiving one of the welfare benefits listed below. It is therefore important to sign up for free school meals / Pupil Premium, even if your child is in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2, or if your child doesn’t always want to have a school lunch, so that your child’s school receives as much funding as possible.
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 less 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 here for an immediate response or call 01473 260989.