Purpose and Use of Pupil Premium Funding

The Government believes that Pupil Premium, which is additional to main school funding, is the best way to address the current underlying inequalities between children eligible for free school meals (FSM) and their peers by ensuring that funding to tackle disadvantage reaches the pupils who need it most. See below for links which outline how we have spent our Pupil Premium for the past two years. There is also an explanation of what we will receive in PE and Sports Premium and how we propose to use this funding for the physical well-being of our pupils. There is also a Strategy Statement  for Pupil Premium posted at the bottom of this page.

Overview of the school

In 2023-2024, 73% of pupils at St James’ are classified as Ever 6 compared to the national average of 23.8% in 2022/23. It is vital that the attainment and progress of Pupil Premium pupils at the school is no different to that of non-Pupil Premium children and that all children, Pupil Premium or non-Pupil Premium, are achieving at expected or above expected levels nationally.

This is a breakdown of how the school uses its Pupil Premium funding from its school budget. This is funding allocated to the school and is based on the number of pupils who have been eligible for Free School Meals in the last six years (Ever6). Funding is allocated separately in the nursery (EYPP).

The number of children eligible for pupil premium are broken down for the past three academic years below and the documents at the bottom of this page outline how this money is spent by the school.

In 2022/23 children on school roll equalled 415 with 274 being FSM eligible and classified as Ever 6; this is 66% of the school roll.

In 2023/24 children on school roll equalled 397 with 260 being FSM eligible and classified as Ever 6; this is 73% of the school roll.

In 2024/25 children on school roll equalled 399 with 279 being FSM eligible and classified as Ever 6; this is 70% of the school roll.