The Pupil Premium is allocated to schools based upon the number of students who :

• Are eligible for Free School Meals (FSM)
• Have claimed Free School Meals (FSM) in the last 6 years
• Are in Local Authority care and have been so continuously for more than six months
• Are part of Service families

Pupil premium is funding to improve education outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in schools in England. Evidence shows that disadvantaged children generally face additional challenges in reaching their potential at school and often do not perform as well as other pupils.

School leaders are best placed to assess their pupils’ needs and use the funding to improve attainment, drawing on evidence of effective practice. It is up to school leaders to decide how to spend the pupil premium.

Evidence suggests that pupil premium spending is most effective when schools use a tiered approach, targeting spending across 3 areas, with a particular focus on teaching.

1. Teaching

Investing in high-quality teaching, for example:
training and professional development for teachers

• recruitment and retention
• support for teachers early in their careers

2. Targeted academic support

Additional support for some pupils focussed on their specific needs, for example:

• one-to-one tuition
• small group tuition
• speech and language therapy

3. Wider approaches

Support for non-academic issues that impact success in school, such as attendance, behaviour and social and emotional challenges. For example:

• school breakfast clubs
• counselling to support emotional health and wellbeing
• help with the cost of educational trips or visits

Free School Meals Eligibility

If your child attends a state school, and you get one or more of the following you can claim for Free School Meals (FSM):

• Universal Credit, and your annual household income is £7,400 per annum (£616 per month) or less after tax, and not including any benefits
• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
• Support under part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act, 1999
• Child Tax Credit, provided you are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and your annual income is less than £16,190, as assessed by HMRC
• Guaranteed Pension Credit
• Income-based Employment and Support Allowance
• Working Tax Credit run-on paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

Additional criteria 

If your child attends a state school, and one or more of the following applies to your family, your child can claim Free School Meals (FSM):

• Zambrano carers
• families who have no recourse to public funds with a right to remain in the UK on grounds of private and family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights
• families receiving support under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 who are also subject to a no recourse to public funds restriction
• a subset of failed asylum seekers supported under Section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• Chen carers
• families holding a BN(O) passport
• spousal visa holders
• work visa holders
• student visa holders
• those with no immigration status

Families must also meet the following financial criteria:

• £22,700 for families with 1 child
• £26,300 for families with 2 or more children

For further information, and to apply to claim Free School Meals at Hagley Catholic High School, please visit the Worcestershire County Council - Worcestershire Local Authority website (link below).