Overview
The Pupil Premium and Service Premium funding is provided to schools in addition to main school funding. It is for schools to decide how the Pupil Premium is spent since they are best placed to assess what additional provision should be made for the individual pupils within their responsibility. The school’s Pupil Premium Strategy Statement outlines the planned expenditure and the desired impact of this.

Shamblehurst Primary approach to Pupil Premium funding:
To ensure the school is allocating Pupil Premium to aid the attainment of our pupils we are rigorous in our approach and:
1. Collect and analyse data on groups and individual pupils, and monitor this at regular pupil progress reviews
2. Are focused on the quality of teaching
3. Identify the main barriers to learning
4. Put appropriate interventions in place when progress has slowed
5. Engage with parents and carers in the education of their child
6. Refer to the existing evidence from the EEF and other research centres about the effectiveness of different strategies
7. Adopt a whole staff approach to understand and implement the strategies being used in school
8. Secure all staffs commitment to the importance of the pupil premium agenda: teachers and support staff

Eligibility for Free School Meals (FSM) and Pupil Premium (PP funding)
To check if your child is eligible for free school meals and to sign up if you are, please click here

You will be asked to input your:
● your own name, date of birth, and contact details
● national Insurance number or National Asylum Seekers number
● child’s name and date of birth
● Your child’s school’s name – Shamblehurst Primary School
This is an easy online service that will give you a quick answer to see if your child is eligible. Alternatively, you are able to complete a Free School Meals application form, which can be found in the letter rack in the office reception area. Our Senior Admin Assistant will be able to check your eligibility for you.
At Shamblehurst Primary School, we understand that circumstances within a home can change swiftly and unexpectedly. Please keep us informed if we can support you in anyway. The application process is quick and we are more than happy to help. All teachers and office staff have an understanding of this funding and can aid you with your questions.
If you are unsure whether you qualify for Pupil Premium, please contact the office.
KS1 – Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) and Pupil Premium
All Key Stage 1 pupils (Reception, Year 1 and Year 2) are entitled to a meal at school at no cost

Universal infant free school meals
All children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are entitled to a meal, free of charge, under the programme:
● registration is not required
● each child will be able to have a hot, two course meal at their school which includes a meat or non-meat main item, vegetables, potato, pasta or rice, salad and a dessert
● registration is not required for children to have the free meals. But schools get government funding for all children who meet the standard free meal criteria. The funding is called the Pupil Premium. To enable us to receive the funding for as many pupils as possible, we encourage parents of children who meet the standard free meal criteria to register. This includes parents of children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2.

KS2 Juniors FSM (Free School Meals and Pupil Premium).
A child is eligible for free school meals if their parent or carer receives one or more of the following benefits:
● Income Support
● income-based Job Seekers’ Allowance
● income-related Employment and Support Allowance
● support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
● the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
● Child Tax Credit, provided you are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit, and have an annual gross income, of no more than £16,190 as assessed by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (Parents who are made redundant or start working less that 16 hours per week, may find their children are entitled to free meals for a limited period.)
● Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
● Universal Credit (provided you have an annual net earned income of no more than £7,400, as assessed by earnings from up to three of your most recent assessment periods)

No other benefits qualify for free school meals from Key Stage 2 (years 3, 4, 5, 6) or for the pupil premium for Reception Year and Key Stage 1 (years 1 and 2)

Service Pupil Premium
The Department for Education (DfE) introduced the Service pupil premium (SPP) in April 2011 in recognition of the specific challenges children from service families face and as part of the commitment to delivering the armed forces covenant.
This academic year the amount allocated per pupil is £320 additional funding.
Pupils attract SPP if they meet one of the following criteria:
● one of their parents is serving in the regular armed forces (including pupils with a parent who is on full commitment as part of the full time reserve service)
● they have been registered as a ‘service child’ on a school census since 2016, see note on the DfE’s ever 6 service child measure
● one of their parents died whilst serving in the armed forces and the pupil receives a pension under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme or the War Pensions Scheme
Service parents need to make the school aware of their status by talking to the head teacher or school admin staff ahead of the autumn school census deadline. Ex-service personnel should tell the school if they left the armed forces within the last 6 years.

In order to support the pastoral needs of service children, schools have flexibility over how they use the SPP, as they are best placed to understand and respond to the specific needs of those pupils for whom the funding has been allocated. The funding could be spent on providing a variety of means of support including counselling provision, ELSA support etc.
SPP should not be used to subsidise routine school activity (trips, music lessons etc.). Schools may choose to fund school trips just for service children, to help them enjoy their time at school and build a sense of a wider community and understanding of the role their service parent plays (e.g. with military specific trips). This is to help them cope with the potential strains of service life.