What is the Pupil Premium?

The pupil premium is additional funding for schools to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils of all abilities and to close the gaps between them and their peers. The funding is based on whether a child is eligible for free school meals. The Department of Education will allocate funding for the following:

• Pupils who have been recorded as being entitled to free school meals at any time from reception to Year 6 (Ever 6 FSM)
• Looked after children (LAC) defined in Children's Act 1989 as one who is in the care of, or provided with accommodation by, a local authority (Pupil premium plus)
• Children who have ceased to be looked after by a local authority because of adoption, a special guardianship order, a child arrangement order or a residence order 2 Peel Common Junior School Service Pupil Premium (SSP).

There is also additional funding for supporting children and young people with parents in the regular armed forces. This is an allocation to offer mainly pastoral support during challenging times and to help mitigate the negative impact on service children of family mobility or parental deployment. Pupils attract the premium if they meet the following criteria:

• one of their parents is serving in the regular armed forces
• they have been registered as a ‘service child’ in the school census at any point since 2011
• one of their parents died while serving in the armed forces and the pupil receives a pension under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) or the War Pensions Scheme (WPS).