At St Mary’s Catholic Voluntary Academy, we support all our pupils. We do this by providing high quality classroom teaching, supplemented by interventions to support vulnerable learners as and when required.
The School’s Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and Governing Body monitor the impact of all spending and interventions, including the Pupil Premium funding. St Mary’s Staff and Governors are committed to enabling all children to enjoy and achieve in their learning; the Pupil Premium funding enhances provision and is used in addition to funds from the school’s allocated budget.
The Pupil Premium grant is allocated to children from families who are currently known to be eligible for free school meals (FSM), pupils who have been eligible for FSM at any point in the last 6 years (Ever6) and children who have been looked after continuously for more than six months at some point in their lives. The reason for this is that, as a group, these children have consistently reached lower educational attainment and made less progress than those in other groups within primary schools across the country.
We encourage all eligible parents and carers to apply for free school meals; we aim to support them to take up this entitlement, understanding that pride, stigma or changing circumstances may initially act as barriers. We also encourage parents with adopted children to speak to us at school in order to give consent for us to access this funding.
Our 3 year pupil premium strategy can be viewed below.
3 Year Pupil Premium Strategy 2023 – 2026
3 Year Pupil Premium Strategy 2020 – 2023
Pupil Premium funding for 2023-2024 is £18,445
In recent years, St Mary’s School has received allocations as follows:
- £23,770 for 2022/23
- £21,415 for 2021/22
- £26,105 for 2020/21
- £35,220 for 2019/20
- £28,320 for 2018/19
- £26,387 for 2017/18
This money has previously been used to enhance provision and alleviate inequality in the following ways:
- 1:1 and small group work, focusing on raising standards in Reading, Writing and Maths through a variety of approaches
- Additional staff support in classrooms
- Enrichment beyond the curriculum, such as funding educational trips or clubs for a small number of pupils
- Provision of uniform
- Support for pupils with emotional difficulties
- Nurture groups and activities to boost self-esteem or address particular needs
- Forest schools
- Activities to support growth mindset and wellbeing
