The Pupil Premium is government funding allocated to mitigate the educational disadvantages experienced by specific groups of children. This targeted additional funding supports learners who are, or have been, eligible for free school meals (E6), those who are looked-after children, and service children—ensuring it reaches the learners with the greatest need.
Furthermore, as part of the commitment to uphold the Armed Forces Covenant, the Department for Education (DfE) provides a separate £340 Premium for learners from Reception to Year 11 whose parents are in the Armed Forces. This specific funding enables schools to deliver extra support to these children.
The Pupil Premium strategy at Stourport High School is built on core values that focus on ensuring every student, regardless of their background, has the opportunity to thrive and reach their full potential.
These core values and priorities can be summarized for parents as:1. Fostering a Sense of Belonging and Well-being
- A Supportive Environment: Cultivating a welcoming and inclusive classroom and school culture where every student feels seen, heard, and valued.
- Prioritising Attendance: Actively working to improve attendance by ensuring students feel connected and supported, with the Form Tutor acting as a champion for each child.
- Pastoral Care: Providing comprehensive support, including counselling and mentoring, to address individual needs and promote emotional well-being and resilience.
- Building Strong Character and Aspirations
- Character Education: Explicitly teaching the school's core values—known as the 'virtues of character' (e.g., Compassion, Determination, Respect)—through the curriculum, tutoring, and extra-curricular opportunities. This is framed as 'character caught, taught, and sought'.
- Celebrating Success: Developing a strong rewards and recognition culture so that every child celebrates their own achievements and the success of others.
- Opportunities Beyond the Classroom: Providing enrichment activities to build students' character and empower them to make positive choices for their future.
- Inclusive Academic Excellence
- High-Quality Teaching: Focusing on inclusive teaching practices across all subjects to ensure consistent, effective learning for every student.
- Literacy and Oracy Focus: Prioritising the development of strong literacy skills (especially reading comprehension and fluency) and oracy (speaking and listening) to empower students to express themselves effectively.
Targeted Academic Support: Providing small group tuition and other interventions to accelerate progress and close any attainment gaps.
For more information, parents and carers can visit: Service Pupil Premium: examples of best practice - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- Total number of pupils on roll: 1132
- Proportion (%) of pupil premium eligible pupils: 25.8%
Our Strategies & Plans
Benefit-Based Pupil Premium
We strongly encourage eligible parents/carers to apply for this status. No one will know who has registered and it will not affect any other benefits being claimed. You can register your son/daughter for Free School Meals if you get any of these benefits:
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- Guarantee element of State Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit, provided you are not entitled to Working Tax Credit** and have an annual income that does not exceed £16,190
- Working Tax Credit ‘run-on’ – the payment someone may receive for a further four weeks after they stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
Note: From 1st May 2009, pupils are eligible for Free School Meals for a four week period immediately after the parent/carer becomes unemployed, or reduces their hours to less than 16 hours a week, but is still in receipt of Working Tax Credit.
Pupils can also register for free school meals if they get any of these benefits themselves.
Applications are made via Worcestershire Children First's self-service portal. You can access the portal by clicking here. This system uses the same portal that you used to apply for your child's school place. If you do not have an account, please follow the on-screen instructions to register.
If you have any questions or comments please contact the Free School Meals team via email: freeschoolmeals@worcschildrenfirst.org.uk.
Mrs Alldritt, our Pupil Premium Officer, will be more than happy to help with all enquires regarding Pupil Premium and to assist any eligible parents/carers to apply. She can be contacted by email galldritt@shs.saet.co.uk
Service Children
The Department for Education (DfE) introduced the SPP in 2011, for maintained sector schools in England as part of the commitment to delivering the armed forces covenant.
State schools, academies and free schools in England, which have children of service personnel in reception to Year 11, can receive the funding, which is designed to assist the school to provide mainly non-educational support (known as pastoral care) to these children. The SPP is currently £300 per child of service personnel, paid directly to the school.
Schools will only be able to claim the SPP if the parents of those eligible children declare their child’s service status to their school Head Teacher, before the annual school census which is due to take place on 21 January.
The SPP helps schools to support the unique challenges children with parents in the armed forces can often face.
Please refer to the Government guidelines
Children Adopted from Care
All adopted children have experienced loss and many have experienced trauma in their early lives. 70% of those adopted in 2009-10 entered care due to abuse or neglect. Adoption offers bright futures for children from care, but it does not erase their past. 80% of adoptive parents represented in research said that their child needs more support than their peers and nearly two thirds (59%) said their child is always trying to catch up in school and make up for their early life experiences.
Adopted children’s early experiences can have a lasting impact, particularly at school. Therefore, teachers and schools have a vital role to play in helping these children emotionally, socially and academically by providing specific support to raise their attainment and address their wider needs.
For more information, please click here.
Looked After Children
Education is the key to raising the aspirations and life chances of Looked After Children and in removing those barriers to learning that prevent inclusive education, through effective planning, monitoring and evaluation of individual needs and progress. Schools can provide an environment of stability and normality for those young people who are within Local Authority Care. Raising levels of academic achievement has been evidenced to positively impact upon life chances.
Definition: The term ‘looked after’ was introduced by the Children Act 1989; this refers to a child who is either accommodated (whereby the Local Authority provides for the child on an agreed basis with the person who has parental responsibility) or is subject to a Care Order (whereby a Court Order grants shared parental responsibility to the Local Authority in order to protect and promote a child’s welfare). Children in both instances could be living with foster carers, in a residential unit, in a residential school, with relatives, or even with parents on a part or full-time basis.
Furthermore, the term ‘looked after’, which is widely used in Social Services, is synonymous with the term ‘in public care’, which was adopted by the Department for Education & Skills (DfES), now known as the Department for Education (DfE), in their publication ‘The Education of Young People in Public Care’.
For full details of our care of Looked After Children in our care, please download this document: Disadvantaged Learners – Looked After Children November 2017 or contact Mrs C Haile by email to chaile@shs.saet.co.uk