At Bluecoat C of E Primary School we aim to maximise the attainment of all pupils in our care. Our school ethos is centred around the philosophy that “at the heart of the education process lies the child”. Our focus is on learning and we have an unswerving commitment to equality of educational opportunity for all. We recognise that social and financial disadvantage can be a barrier to equality of opportunity and welcome the introduction of the Pupil Premium which was introduced in April 2011 to provide additional support for children who are looked after and those from low income families.

The purpose of Pupil Premium funding is to address inequalities and improve educational provision for disadvantaged pupils in order to close the gap between their achievements and that of their peers. We believe this should be done inclusively with specific interventions and support delivered within the context of enhancements to our universal provision. Interventions we put in place to support disadvantaged or vulnerable pupils are ultimately aimed at ensuring all pupils are empowered to access and benefit equally from universal provision and make the most of all the opportunities on offer.

We believe that interventions should have a positive, meaningful impact for children. It is important to ensure that they provide value for money by tracking the spending of the additional funding and evaluating the effectiveness of measures that have been put in place regarding the improvement of outcomes.

The ‘Service Child Premium’ is a strand of the Pupil Premium paid to schools in respect of pupils whose parents are currently serving in the armed forces. We recognise the challenges facing service families and are actively involved in promoting continuity of educational provision for service children.

Principles for the allocation of Pupil Premium Funding at Bluecoat C of E Primary School

1. All pupils registered as eligible for pupil premium will benefit from some identified additional provision in order to improve their learning as they move through the school year.

2. Pupils not eligible for pupil premium funding may also benefit from enhanced provision as a result of our firm commitment to integrated provision and universal access. Pupils eligible for pupil premium will be supported inclusively according to their needs and will not be segregated from their peers.

3. All staff will share responsibility for the effective implementation of provision for disadvantage and vulnerable pupils and for narrowing the attainment gap. An identified member of the Senior Leadership Team will champion Pupil Premium ensuring that provision for eligible pupils retains a high profile and is rigorously monitored.

4. When planning pupil premium provision we will adopt a research based approach aiming to build on what we already know works well in the context of Great Torrington Bluecoat Primary School as a result of our evaluation procedures.

5. When planning for pupil premium provision we will acknowledge and take account of evidence based research from external organisations e.g. DFE, Sutton Trust focusing on the proven impact of different strategies to support disadvantaged pupils and improve social mobility.

6. The views of pupils eligible for pupil premium will be acknowledge and respected.

7. As a school we will strive to build positive relationships with the families of our pupil premium children and actively involve them in their children’s learning journeys.

8. We will use our school pupil tracking system to monitor and review the progress of our pupil premium children. We will use pupil premium funding flexibly, adjusting provision where necessary in response to the outcomes of our termly pupil progress meetings.

9. The governing body will be updated every term on pupil premium spending and will review and evaluate the impact of pupil premium funding on an annual basis.

We believe that successful spending should lead to rising standards, the narrowing of the attainment gap and the broadening of opportunities for our most disadvantaged pupils. As a school we have identified four barriers to learning for our pupil premium children. These are listed below:

• Poor speech and communication skills

• Pupil self-regulation of learning

• High percentage of pupil premium children are on the SEN register

• Life skills

• Parental engagement

 It is important that we regularly review how effectively we are spending our allocation of Pupil premium funding and use this to inform future allocation of identified resources.