Pupil Premium and Pupil Premium Plus

The Pupil Premium grant is additional funding designed to allow schools to help disadvantaged pupils achieve better outcomes, by improving their progress and raising their overall attainment. It is available for children who are from disadvantaged backgrounds and are eligible for free school meals, and also to those whose parents are in the Armed Forces.

Additional funding (Pupil Premium Plus) is also available for every formerly Looked After Child – that is, for every child who has left Local Authority Care as a consequence of Adoption, Special Guardianship Order, Child Arrangements Order or a Residence Order. Pupil Premium Plus currently stands at £2347 per child.

How does this work for independent schools?

As SAFE is an independent school, only those of our pupils whose places are funded by their Local Authority are entitled to Pupil Premium or Pupil Premium Plus. Funding is allocated to the Local Authority for each eligible child, and the Local Authority then decides whether the funding should be allocated directly to the school, or retained centrally. In the case that funding is retained centrally, SAFE would be consulted by the Local Authority about how any funding should be used.

SAFE does not recieve pupil premium funding, though there may be circumstances in the future, as in the above, in which it could become available.

What do we use Pupil Premium for?

Any Pupil Premium funding allocated to SAFE will be used to pay for appropriate interventions for those children who attract the funding, and to help fund training for staff in delivering those interventions, where necessary. Interventions will be decided on each academic year, in order that they are continually assessed for appropriateness and effectiveness for our cohort at any one time.

What about students who need help but aren’t eligible?

All of SAFE’s students are disadvantaged in some way, and unable to attend mainstream school, however not all are eligible for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), despite many suffering significant social, emotional, and mental health difficulties. As these children are in need yet cannot attract this additional funding, we will commit to ensuring that SAFE will top up funds for any interventions paid for via Pupil Premium, in order that all students who would benefit from any interventions are able to do so.