Pupil premium plus policy
- Funding
- Pupils cared for by other local authorities
- Eligibility
- Using the Pupil Premium effectively
- Getting the most from Pupil Premium Plus
- Using the Pupil Premium effectively to improve attainment
- Recording use
- Further advice
Guidance on the Pupil Premium for Children in our Care (CIOC).
Download this policy as a pdf (PDF, 354 KB)
Funding
Pupil Premium is £2630 for children in care in year 2025 - 2026. Gateshead Virtual School retains £830 for the Virtual School to provide additional support for children in our care. The remainder, £1800, is allocated by the Head Teacher of the Virtual School to the establishment where the pupil is on roll at the end of each term. The Pupil Premium's main purpose is raising the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and closing the gap with peers.
In instances where Gateshead Council has commissioned an educational residential placement at an Independent Special School, the Pupil Premium is included within the overall arrangements so there is no additional payment.
Pupil premium will be distributed annually to schools, this will be based on whether the pupil has been in care for the full school year or adjusted accordingly based on number of days in care during the school year.
The payment will depend on the school satisfying the Head Teacher of the Virtual School that a number of criteria have been met. These include:
- has the Designated Teacher undertaken termly monitoring of the education section of the PEP and returned it to GVS?
- has the Designated Teacher outlined support and intervention programmes to raise attainment within the EPEP?
- is the use of support and intervention programmes aligned being used effectively to ensure an individual child makes progress?
Payment of the annual amount is not therefore automatic.
Annual payments will vary as they are calculated by the number of days a child has been cared for and on the school roll. An additional variation will occur for a child who is offered alternative education as Pupil Premium held centrally may be used to contribute to these costs. Any individual queries about amounts can be directed to Ian Hall - email [email protected].
Any funding retained will be redistributed to areas of high need, those children needing alternative provision, the coordination of the PEP process and for the provision of advice, guidance and training for professionals throughout the year.
Whilst schools are able to carry funding forward at the end of the financial year, it is advisable to utilise the funding in year in order to be able to satisfy the reporting requirements on how the Pupil Premium has been applied.
The Virtual School will both monitor how the support and intervention programmes to improve progress and achievement are implemented and will share examples of good practice.
Pupils cared for by other local authorities
The Department for Education (DfE) allocates the Pupil Premium to the local authority that looks after the child. Where children on the school roll are looked after by local authorities other than Gateshead, the Pupil Premium payment will be allocated by those other local authorities as per their local arrangements. As there is no national guidance on how to allocate Pupil Premium funding, local authorities have the discretion to determine their own arrangements. Schools should be aware that the funding of looked after pupils on roll may vary as a result. If you have difficulty securing funds from other local authorities , please contact the Virtual School Head in that authority. If you need further advice or clarification you should contact the Gateshead Virtual School Head Teacher.
Eligibility
- Looked After Children defined in the Children Act 1989 as one who is in the care of, or provided with accommodation by, an English local authority. £2630 - direct to local authority and for Head Teacher of the Virtual School to distribute
- Children who have ceased to be looked after by the local authority in England or Wales because of adoption, a special guardianship order, a child arrangements order (CAO) or a residence order (RO). £2630 - direct to schools (based on School Census and Alternative Provision Census - known and often self-disclosed by parent - children meeting this criteria)
To secure the Pupil Premium for adopted children and those subject to a SGO or RO/CAO, parents and guardians will have needed to inform the school about their child's circumstances and provide supporting evidence, for example, the Adoption (Court) Order in time for the school to record the child's status on the January School Census.
This Pupil Premium funding, known as Post Looked After Children, is paid at the start of the financial year as a single indicative amount. Following data verification by the EFA, an adjustment is made for actual funded numbers later in the summer term.
Using the Pupil Premium effectively
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) has produced a range of guidance to support the effective use of Pupil Premium through their teaching and learning toolkit to help teachers and schools to use the Pupil Premium effectively to support disadvantaged pupils. EEF has also produced an evaluation tool to help schools measure the impact of the approaches they use.
- The EEF Guide to the Pupil Premium
- Pupil premium menu - EEF evidence brief
- Pupil premium - the tiered model and menu of approaches
- Teaching and learning toolkit
Getting the most from Pupil Premium Plus
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Using the Pupil Premium effectively to improve attainment
Please be creative in your strategies to meet a child's assessed needs.
School budgets are planned annually and take into account all income including additional grants. Often support and intervention programmes are planned and established for all children to support attainment and progress as part of the budget setting process. Through these support and intervention programmes schools will need to ensure that they utilise the budget including the Pupil Premium in ways which make a positive impact on the educational attainment and progression of each child in our care.
A school can decide how the Pupil Premium can be spent; however, they are advised to consult with carers, social workers, colleagues from the Virtual School and, most significantly, the individual child to ensure support and intervention programmes are accessible to and matched to the child needs and ensures, through careful target setting within the EPEP, good progress and achievement.
Targeted intervention is very successful for many children and 1:1 support or small group work with teaching or teaching assistant support would be high on the list of effective ways to raise attainment and ensure progress. Where schools elect to use a teaching assistant, this should be under the close direction of teachers. Pooling money for the benefit of a small group of children can be good practice where there are increased opportunities for peer interaction and diversity of learning styles.
It may be that a whole school INSET session would benefit from training on such issues as Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, Trauma and Attachment issues or behaviour management techniques. Partnerships of schools could club together and either buy in experts in that field or involve the Education Psychologists or other services.
For children whose attainment is better than their peer group, consideration can be given to strategies targeted at those considered 'gifted and talented' or providing opportunities they might not otherwise receive.
How are the child or young person's social skills and emotional well-being? Can addressing social skills and emotional well-being needs, through a concentration on the social and emotional aspects of learning, result in a child who can more readily learn and who is happier in school? This may include developing 'circle of friends techniques' or assessing needs through assessment tools then targeting identified weaker areas.
This funding can be used to ensure 25 hours full-time provision is in place through individualised learning pathways. This may include one day work experience or a college placement for part of the week.
Revision guides may be helpful for some young people who are motivated to work through these guides outside of school.
Specific support in areas of extra-curricular interest - art materials, music, Duke of Edinburgh, drama or sports for example. Sports Premium money may also be targeted at specific pupils to increase engagement.
IT equipment and specific software programs for learning, e.g. IPAD, digital camera for photography qualifications.
Academic mentoring or access at breakfast club or lunch times for identified support.
Clusters of schools may identify support that requires a high level of teaching support over a prolonged period. Sharing funding for the benefit of children and young people across communities is worthy of consideration.
Targeting resources that can be parcelled up and sent home, can be a very effective way of motivating children. A new reading book, Kindle, or a subscription to a monthly periodical that can be delivered to the home, could encourage reading.
Recording use
The DFE sets out the expectation that all schools place on the school web site, examples of how the Pupil Premium has been used to support children's learning and achievements. Whilst no individual child should be identifiable, schools should show the impact the additional funding has made. This includes those pupils who attract the Pupil Premium through the free school meals or Service personnel criteria.
The impact and use of additional support and intervention programmes to improve progress and attainment should be recorded on a child's Personal Education Plan.
The first PEP is initiated within 20 days of a child coming into care and is updated statutorily every six months although guidance recommends a termly PEPS. A new PEP is required whenever a child changes school.
Accurate assessments including those related to SEND (SEMH, Communication and Interaction for example ASD) should be used to influence decisions about support and intervention programmes. Schools should ensure that identified needs are met through support and intervention programmes that are available for all children in the school. There is an expectation that schools will use their own termly tracking to update the PEP.
The school's Designated Teacher for Children in our Care should be aware of the Pupil Premium budget that the school receives and should be able to demonstrate how effectively it has been utilised for each child by linking support and intervention programmes to their targets and outcomes.
It is considered good practice for an annual report to go to the school governing body, reporting on how the Pupil Premium has been spent and the impact the pupil premium has made on individual progress. This information will be required by OFSTED. No individual children should be identifiable within this report.
Further advice
For information on how best to support and promote the educational achievement of Children in our Care contact [email protected] - Head Teacher Virtual School.