What is Pupil Premium?

Pupil Premium is finding from the government allocated to schools to help them improve the attainment of their disadvantaged pupils. Funding is based on the number of pupils they have in January who have registered for a free school meal at any pint in the last 6 years, children who are in care or adopted, and children whose parents are currently serving in the armed forces.

Our Priorities

Setting priorities is key to maximising the use of the PPG (Pupil Premium Grant). Our priorities are as follows:

• Ensuring 'outstanding' teaching in every class.
• Closing the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers.
• Providing targeted academic support for pupils who are not making the expected progress.
• Addressing non-academic barriers to attainment such as attendance and social and emotional needs.
• Ensuring that the PPG reaches the pupils who need it most.

Our tiered approach

As outlined by the Education and Endowment Foundation (EEF), best practice is for schools to use their funding in a tiered approach to define our priorities and ensure balance. Our tiered approach compromises three categories:

1. Teaching
2. Targeted academic support
3. Wider strategies

Within each category, we have chosen two or three interventions. This focused approach ensures the best of success for each intervention.

    1. Quality of Teaching

Good and Outstanding teaching is the most important lever schools have to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. Using the Pupil Premium Grant to improve teaching quality benefits all pupils and has a particularly positive effect on children eligible for Pupil Premium. Our priority at Poulner Junior School is to ensure that a highly effective teacher is front of every class, and that every teacher is supported to keep improving.

    2. Targeted academic support

Evidence consistently shows the positive impact that targeted academic support can have, including on those who are not making good progress across the spectrum of achievement. At Poulner Junior School, we consider how classroom teachers and teaching assistants can provide targeted academic support, including how to link structured one-to-one or small group intervention to classroom teaching.

    3. Wider strategies

At Poulner Junior School, we aim to focus on the most significant non-academic barriers to success in school, including attendance, behaviour and social/emotional support.

To find out more, please visit the EEF website:

Our review process

The three-year approach to strategic planning allows us to dedicate more time up-front and introduce light-touch reviews annually.

During a light-touch review, we will review the success of each intervention, based on evidence, and determine the most effective approach moving forwards - adapting, expanding or ceasing the intervention as required.

Individual targets are set for each pupil in receipt of the Pupil Premium Grant on their 'trackers' and their progress towards achieving these targets is analysed at the end of interventions.

The progress of pupils in receipt of the Pupil Premium Grant is regularly discussed with teachers.

Once the three-year term has been completed, a new three-year strategy will be created in light of the lessons learned during the execution of the previous strategy, and with regard to any new guidance and evidence of best practice that becomes available. The Head Teacher is responsible for ensuring a pupil premium strategy is always in effect.

Please see the documents below that outline how we plan to achieve these aims.