What is the pupil premium?

The pupil premium is additional funding provided to schools to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.

The amount a school receives is based on the number of eligible pupils recorded in the relevant school census. Schools decide how to use the funding according to the needs of their pupils and the particular challenges they face.

Pupil premium funding does not have to be spent solely on individual eligible pupils. Schools may use it to support other pupils with identified needs where this contributes to improving outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.

How is the pupil premium used?

Schools must use pupil premium funding in line with the Department for Education’s menu of approaches and informed by evidence about what is most likely to improve pupils’ attainment.

Spending should be considered across three areas:

• High-quality teaching, including staff professional development and approaches that improve teaching

• Targeted academic support, such as structured interventions and tutoring

• Wider strategies, addressing barriers to learning such as attendance, behaviour and social and emotional wellbeing

Thwaites School considers the needs of its pupils carefully and uses pupil premium funding where it will have the greatest impact.

Who is eligible for pupil premium funding?

Pupil premium funding is provided for:

• Pupils who are currently eligible for benefits-related free school meals, or who have been eligible at any point during the previous six years

• Children who are looked after by a local authority

• Children who were previously looked after by a local authority or other state care, including children who left care through adoption, a special guardianship order or a child arrangements order

If you think your child may be eligible for benefits-related free school meals, we encourage you to apply. Registering may help the school receive additional pupil premium funding to support children’s education and remove barriers to learning.

This is important even if your child already receives a free meal through another entitlement, such as universal infant free school meals.

Further information and an application form are available on Cumberland Council’s Free School Meals and Clothing Vouchers webpage:

Apply for free school meals and clothing vouchers

Our pupil premium strategy

Below you can find our most recent pupil premium strategy statement. It explains:

• The challenges faced by eligible and disadvantaged pupils

• How we intend to use pupil premium funding to address those challenges

• The intended outcomes of our chosen approaches

• How we will evaluate the impact of our spending

Our pupil premium strategy is reviewed and updated annually.