Links Multi Academy Trust

Pupil Premium

Pupil Premium was introduced in April 2011 and is additional funding that the government gives to schools for each pupil on roll where they are deemed to be disadvantaged. The money must be spent on that pupil to support their education, but it is for the school to determine how it is spent. The Department of Education website is a good source of additional information:

http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/pupilsupport/premium

How do parents/carers register their child’s entitlement for Pupil Premium?

All children at Links Academy receive a free hot meal each day provide by the Trust. However, your child may be eligible for the Pupil Premium if you receive any of the following:

Income Support
Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
The guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
Child Tax Credit (as long as you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and you don’t get more than £16,190 a year)
Working Tax Credit run-on (paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)
Universal Credit (with annual earned income of no more than £7,400 after tax and not including any benefits you get).

You can apply today if you receive any of these benefits. It takes 5 mins and in most cases you can find out immediately if your child can get free meals at school. The link below will take you straight to the application form.

Who receives the Pupil Premium?

Pupil Premium is allocated to pupils in school year groups from Reception to Year 11 from low-income families who are registered for FSM, or who have been registered for FSM at any point in the last six years (known as ‘Ever 6’), together with children that have been in care continuously for 6 months or more.

Apply Here

What is the Service Premium?

The Service Premium grant is for pupils who have a parent serving in the armed services. Unlike the Pupil Premium, this grant is not solely for raising attainment but for providing additional (mainly pastoral) support.

What obligations are placed on the school?

Schools will need to monitor the impact of their selected approaches to improve provision for pupils entitled to the Pupil or Service Premium. The Pupil and Service Premium is not ring-fenced and schools are free to spend it as they wish to improve pupils’ attainment.

How are parents/carers informed about the use of the Pupil Premium grants?

The school’s governing body must publish information on the school- website every year on the Pupil and Service Premium expenditure. For those parents that are not able to access the internet, a paper copy of this information will be provided. It should detail the funding received for the current academic year, as well as details of how it will be spent; there should also be details of how the previous academic year’s allocation was spent. For example, the report should include:

A brief description of the school, its catchment area, numbers on roll, the percentage of pupils in receipt of Free School meals, ‘Looked After’ children, and pupils from Service Families.
A brief explanation of what the pupil premium is for, an explanation of the school’s freedom to decide how to spend the additional funding, the allocation and their plans to spend it.
A brief summary of how the school routinely plans and provides to meet the needs of all pupils. Parents should be aware that school staff are bound by ‘confidentiality rules’ on all matters pertinent to pupils’ educational needs, their care and health needs and their wellbeing.

The Pupil Premium leads at Links Academy are: