Pupil Premium at Heelands School 

The Pupil Premium is an amount of £1,455 allocated to schools for each pupil known to be eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) or who have been eligible for FSM at any point in the last six years (known as the Ever 6 FSM measure). Children who have been in local authority care continuously for more than six months also attract this premium. Schools are free to spend the Pupil Premium as they see fit to ‘close the gap’ between children from disadvantaged circumstances and those above the low-income threshold. Schools are held accountable for the way this additional funding is used to secure good outcomes for FSM pupils.

The introduction of free school lunches for all children until the end of year 2 has made the Pupil Premium issue difficult for some parents to understand and many don't realise the additional benefits that Pupil Premium funding attracts. It's an important part of our school budget and provides additional support which benefits all of our children. At Heelands we give our Pupil Premium children a free fleece, and all trips and visits are also free. 

Your child may be eligible if you receive:

• Income Support

• Income Based Job Seekers Allowance

• Child Tax Credit Only (with income up to £16,190) with no element of Working Tax Credit

• National Asylum Seekers Support

• Guarantee Element of the State Pension Credit

• Employment and Support Allowance (income related)

• Universal Credit (income dependant)

Parents can apply directly by clicking on the Pupil Premium Application Form link above

At Heelands our aim and expectation is that all pupils achieve their very best. We are committed to ensuring that needs are identified as early as possible so that every child can fulfill their potential, whatever barriers they may face.

PUPIL PREMIUM STRATEGY HEELANDS 2023-24

Covid Catch-Up Funding

Schools have been given additional funding to support children to 'catch-up' with any missed learning due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Schools can spend this money as they think best to support their children and the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) published a support guide with evidence-based approaches to catch up for all students. The catch-up premium is funded at £80 per pupil, so we received £4,325.

At Heelands we gave a great deal of thought to what children had actually missed out on and decided that our main priorities were to ensure that any mental health and well-being issues were addressed and to provide some of the life experiences that they had missed during the pandemic, for example, school trips, family outings and visits to places of interest.

Our aim is to reduce the impact on learning through a three-pronged approach:

• Quality First teaching including targeted interventions where appropriate

• The provision of a learning environment that reduces cognitive overload and equips children to be independent, creative thinkers and problem solvers

• Providing a wide range of experiences, both inside and outside school, to broaden and develop their knowledge of the world 

We have spent above and beyond the Covid Catch-up premium, even when combining it with other areas of funding, the recovery premium and the tutoring grant which gave us a total package of approximately £6200 but the aim to ensure that all children achieve their best regardless of their economic or social background is paramount.