Background to the Pupil Premium:

The Pupil Premium is a government grant which is allocated to schools based on the number of pupils on roll who are either: looked after children, children of service personnel, children registered for free school meals or children who have been registered for free school meals within the last 6 years. The grant was introduced in 2011 and the amount allocated per student is £935 for the school year 2020-21.

An enhanced Pupil Premium Plus was introduced in April 2014 for the following categories: CLA, children adopted from care, children that have left care under a Special Guardianship or Residence Order and children of service personnel. The purpose of the grant is to support schools in ensuring that children who may be disadvantaged achieve and attain in line with their peers and therefore, to close the gap in these areas. At St Marylebone CE Bridge School we are committed to achieving this. The purpose of the grant is to support schools in ensuring that children who may be disadvantaged achieve and attain in line with their peers.

In making provision for socially disadvantaged children, we recognise that not all children who receive free school meals (FSM) will be socially disadvantaged. We also recognise that not all children who are social disadvantaged are registered or qualify for FSM. The school therefore allocates the Pupil Premium Funding to support any child or group of children we have identified as being socially disadvantaged.

Our rationale:

At The St Marylebone CE Bridge School, we have high aspirations and ambitions for all our students, all of whom have Special Educational Needs with Speech , Language and Communication. We believe that no child should be left behind. We are proud of both the high expectations we have of our students with SEN and of our determination to ensure there will be no significant gap between the progress of our Pupil Premium and other students. This is the result of our determination to ensure that all our pupils are given every chance to realise their full potential through a programme of support delivered through and beyond the timetabled curriculum, exploring life and social skills pertinent to our cohort and to help equip our students for life after school.

The School intends to continue to narrow the achievement gap between our Pupil Premium and other students. Our rationale is informed by our own evaluative practice based currently on Key Stage 3 data. As such, our allocation of the Pupil Premium grant is based on the evidence that pupils from socially disadvantaged backgrounds:

• benefit from enhanced access to opportunities for problem solving and developing creativity;
• we gather the views of Pupil Premium (PP) students regularly so that we can respond to their views.

• achieve more as a result of effective, personalised feedback both in written and spoken form;
• benefit from small class sizes, or higher pupil/adult ratios;
• achieve and attain as a result of personalised support rather than generalised strategy;
• intervention starts early and its impact evaluated.
• additional Targeted intervention in lessons and beyond
• benefit from explicitly being taught meta-cognition, reflective and self-regulating skills.

Use of Pupil Premium

DfE Guidance states that Pupil Premium funding should be used for;

“raising the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and closing the gap with their peers.”

At St Marylebone CE Bridge School data indicates that there is no gap within the vast majority of areas, between pupils in receipt of PP and their peers. However, the following five key elements have been selected to improve the progress of this group.

Barriers to Learning

At St. Marylebone CE Bridge School pupils who receive Pupil Premium (PP) can face a wide range of difficulties. These barriers to learning are not typical of every pupil who receives payment, and area also not limited to those pupils who receive PP. A pupil who receives PP may experience;

• Less financial support within the home.
• Less access to basic needs.
• Less support for school work/emotional support.
• Less opportunities for independence.

These barriers could affect the progress of a pupil who attends St Marylebone Bridge CE School in significant ways, including;

• Low aspirations.
• Low engagement in school life.
• Low prior attainment.
• Slower progress.
• Increased behaviour difficulties.
• Low attendance and punctuality.
• Low reading/writing/numeracy ages.
• Increased difficulty accessing the curriculum.

You can download our Pupil Premium Reports below: