About Us

Pupil Premium

What is the pupil premium?

The pupil premium is additional funding given to publicly funded schools in England to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and close the gap between them and their peers.

The school receives money for children that are eligible for Free School Meals (or have been in the last six years; this is known as ‘Ever 6’). However, Pupil Premium isn’t simply about free school meals, it also enables schools to access funding for qualifying children. Schools use this money to obtain additional staff and resources that help improve the quality of education.

To find out whether your child qualifies for free school meals, and hence whether their school would receive additional funding, please contact the school office.

Context Of The School

Our school is a larger than average primary school with a current roll of 400+ learners (September 2021) in a large coastal town with considerable deprivation, being amongst the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. Severe deprivation is evident in the Nelson and Central wards where the majority of our learners come from. The school sits in the heart of the community we serve and overlooks the historic market place of Great Yarmouth. The average household income is below averages for Norfolk and the East of England and significantly below that for England.

Unemployment in the town is currently at 5.3% ( official labour statistics 2020/21), higher than figures for Norfolk and England. The principal employers are the hotel, catering industries, shops and energy industry. Many of our EAL parents work in food processing with long hours a considerable distance from the town itself. Full time employment remains low compared in comparison to Norfolk and the Country but part-time employment is higher. Whilst the small energy sector offers the highest paid jobs in Norfolk local residents earn less than the regional and national average suggesting that many of the highest paid residents’ children do not attend our school.

Data shows that the school population is changing and growing over time, with an increasing number of children coming in from ethnic minority groups and a continuously growing number of children with English as an additional language.

As of 2018 we are a 2 form entry school with 2 classes in Years Reception through to Year 5 and 3 classes in Year 6.

We see ourselves as duty bound to provide the very best educational service to the community we serve because of the difficult context of the school yet where others may see challenge we see the potential to achieve for all.

We believe that our children need and deserve the highest standards of pastoral as well as academic provision. As such we have a pastoral worker, nurture lead, ‘behaviour, inclusion and community’ (BIC) team which includes a family support professional. We have specific rooms set aside for pastoral and nurture provision as well as provision for counselling.

Our Intent

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 attainers.

We will consider the challenges faced by vulnerable pupils, such as those who have a social worker and young carers. The activity we have outlined in this statement is also intended to support their needs, regardless of whether they are disadvantaged or not.

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
 

Pupil Premium Strategy

Below you will find a detailed breakdown of the amount the school receives, what it is used for and the impact its spending has on our children. The date of the next Pupil Premium Strategy Review is Summer 2022.

 

About Us

We believe that it is important to raise every child’s aspirations, and to provide the opportunities for them to experience success, develop their skills, and broaden their horizons

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Objectives of Pupil Premium Spending

At St Nicholas Priory C.E.V.A. Primary school we recognise difference, promote inclusion and constantly strive to address any difference in attainment or progress of pupil groups.

The Pupil Premium is additional funding given to publicly funded schools in English to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and diminish the gap between them and their peers.

How are we ‘diminishing’ the gap

Pupil premium funding has been used in a huge variety of ways including; small group and individual interventions (Extra lessons of literacy and numeracy), teacher / TA training and broadening and enriching the curriculum. The aim of this was to ensure all children from disadvantaged backgrounds, including free school meals were given the instruction, support and experiences they need to make the progress, typically, of children from more privileged backgrounds.

Please see the spending breakdown for a more detailed look at spending and impact.