The Pupil Premium is additional funding given to publicly funded schools in England to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils to close the gap between pupil premium pupils and their peers. Pupil premium pupils include those who are entitled to free school meals, those looked after by the local authority and children of armed service personnel. The intended effect of this funding is to accelerate progress and raise attainment. If you feel that your child may be eligible for pupil premium funding then please follow this information:
From Monday 6th November 2023, the Local Authority will be using a Free School Meal Eligibility Checker online application form.
Any parents that wish to apply for a new FSM claim (that haven’t done so before or wish to resubmit from a previous failed claim) should use the website: https://www.stoke.gov.uk/freeschoolmeals
The system should give the parent an outcome of their application within a few minutes. The Local Authority will then inform schools of the outcomes of these applications on a regular basis.
If you are unsure about how to complete the form online, please e-mail FSM@stoke.gov.uk with your contact details and details of any issues.
In most cases the Pupil Premium is allocated to schools and is clearly identifiable. It is for schools to decide how the Pupil Premium (allocated to schools per FSM pupil) is spent, since they are best placed to assess what additional provision should be made for the individual pupils within their responsibility.
All schools are required to report on the amount of funding received, how this is being used, and the impact of any work done.
Our key objective in using the Pupil Premium Grant is to narrow the gap between pupil groups. Historically levels of attainment have been lower for FSM, this is also a national trend. Through targeted interventions we are working towards eliminating barriers to learning and progress.
At the Weston Federation we are working to increase attainment levels, attendance, speech and language skills and levels of parental engagement for all Pupil Premium children, to ensure that they make accelerated progress as they move through the school.
We have an annual Pupil Premium action plan to support Pupil Premium pupils. The action plans are reviewed annually.
Pupil Premium Strategy 2021-24
