Evidence shows that pupils who are eligible for free school meals (FSM) underachieve considerably compared with their non-FSM peers at every key stage. The Government therefore believes it is right that additional funds are available to give those children who achieve less well a better start in life.

Our intention is that all pupils, irrespective of their background or the challenges they face, make good progress and achieve high attainment across all subject areas. The focus of our pupil premium strategy is to support disadvantaged pupils to achieve that goal, including progress for those who are already high attaining.

We will consider the challenges faced by vulnerable pupils, such as those who have a social worker and young carers.

High-quality teaching is at the heart of our approach, with a focus on areas in which disadvantaged pupils require the most support. This is proven to have the greatest impact on closing the disadvantage attainment gap and at the same time will benefit the non-disadvantaged pupils in our school. Implicit in the intended outcomes detailed below, is the intention that non-disadvantaged pupils’ attainment will be sustained and improved alongside progress for their disadvantaged peers.

Our approach will be responsive to common challenges and individual needs, rooted in robust diagnostic assessment, not assumptions about the impact of disadvantage. The approaches we have adopted complement each other to help pupils excel. To ensure they are effective we will:

·         ensure disadvantaged pupils are challenged in the work that they’re set

·         act early to intervene at the point need is identified

·         adopt a whole school approach in which all staff take responsibility for disadvantaged pupils’ outcomes and raise expectations of what they can achieve.