What is the Pupil Premium?

Additional funds given to schools to support all children
All schools receive additional funding for children: who are entitled to free school meals; who have been ‘Looked After’ for 6 months or more and for children from families in the armed forces. This funding now includes any child who has been entitled to free school meals in the last 6 years.

The money is given to schools to support them in enabling all pupils to reach or exceed the nationally expected level for their age.

Often parents are concerned that there is a stigma attached to being seen as a ‘low income’ family. At Zaytouna all matters regarding free school meals and pupil premium are treated confidentially. There is never an assumption that the children from these families will be less able, on the contrary, we believe that everyone can succeed. We work with our families and colleagues to make sure everyone involved with the child has high aspirations.

Equal opportunities

We use all our resources to ensure that every child at Zaytouna has an equal opportunity to become an empowered learner. In order to achieve this we offer our children a wide range of opportunities, we always make sure these are accessible for everyone.

The decision about how that money is spent is left with the individual schools. At Zaytouna we know what makes the biggest difference to children’s attainment and progress is the quality of the teacher and their understanding of how children learn. We also know that there are many other ways of accelerating children’s progress.

Who is entitled to Pupil Premium?

In the 2023 to 2024 financial year, schools will receive the following funding for each pupil registered as eligible for free school meals (FSM) at any point in the last 6 years:

£1,455 for pupils in reception to year 6

Schools will receive £2,530 for any pupil:

identified in the January 2023 school census of having left local authority care as a result of:

• adoption
• a special guardianship order
• a child arrangements order (previously known as a residence order)
• who has been in local authority care for 1 day or more
• recorded as both eligible for FSM in the last 6 years and as being looked after (or as having left local authority care)

For pupils who attract the £2,530 rate, the ‘virtual school head’ of the local authority that looks after the pupil will manage the funding.