Pupil Premium Strategy
Our Pupil Premium Strategy is published below using the DfE template:
The Pupil Premium is a sum of money given to schools each year by the Government to improve the attainment of disadvantaged children. The money can be used for the benefit of all children, although it should report on the impact of the eligible children.
All members of our leadership team take an active role in the development of eligible pupils. We aim to use the money to ensure quality first teaching for all, provide targeted support, professional development for staff and other approaches which will enable children to participate fully in an enriched education through improved wellbeing.
Free School Meals
You can claim free school meals for each child who attends school if you receive one of these benefits:
- Universal Credit with no earned income or with net monthly earnings less than £616.67
- Income Support
- Income based Jobseeker's Allowance
- Income related Employment 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 have a yearly household income of less than £16,190 (as assessed by HM Revenue and Customs) and do not get Working Tax Credit
- Working Tax Credit run-on (paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit)
Please visit the Cheshire East website for further information.
We suggest you do make a claim for free school meals even if your child is in key stage 1 as the school can claim additional funding (pupil premium) for new equipment and resources.
You can apply for nursery-age children if they attend before and after lunch sessions at a local authority nursery school, nursery class or an Academy nursery if it has the same Ofsted number as the primary school.
Phone 0300 123 5012 for further information and help. Alternatively, contact the School Office and we will be able to help you to register your child.
Universal Free School Meals
Children in Reception and Years One and Two qualify for free school meals regardless of their family income, but only the children who would have qualified for free school meals under the above income-based criteria will receive the Pupil Premium. If your child qualifies for free school meals, it's important that you tell us - even if they take a packed lunch - as this enables us to claim Pupil Premium.
Ever 6 Free School Meals
The Pupil Premium includes pupils who are known to have been eligible for Free School Meals (FSM). The school receives £1345 per pupil for the year when eligible for Free School Meals and for each school year afterwards.
Looked After Children or Previously Looked After
The Pupil Premium includes pupils who were looked after by an English or Welsh local authority immediately before being adopted, or who left local authority care on a special guardianship order or child arrangements order (previously known as a residence order). The school receives £2345 for each year after joining school.
Ever 5 Service Premium
Ever 5 Service Premium means a pupil recorded who was eligible for the service child premium. £310 is received each year after being recorded as eligible. You can read more here.
The Pupil Premium grant may be spent for the educational benefit of all pupils at the school. The school will decide how the Pupil Premium is spent. We are accountable for the use of the funding to support previously looked after children and pupils from low-income families and the impact this has on their educational attainment.
Sports Premium Funding
Sport Premium
The government allocates additional funding to schools to enhance the provision of physical education (PE) and sports in primary schools. This funding is jointly provided by the Departments for Education, Health, and Culture, Media, and Sport and is directed to primary school head teachers.
The funding is ring-fenced, meaning it can only be used to improve PE and sports programs within schools.
Purpose of the Funding
Schools are required to use this funding to enhance their PE and sports offerings, but they have the flexibility to decide how best to allocate the resources. Several potential uses have been suggested.
At Wistaston Church Lane Academy, we use this funding to provide sports coaching for all students and to offer swimming opportunities for children in Key Stage 2. Our sports coaches deliver high-quality lessons and run both lunchtime and after-school clubs for students. Swimming lessons are initially provided to KS2 students, with additional catch-up programs offered to children in Years 4, 5, and 6.
Our objectives are to:
- Increase student participation in sports and physical activities.
- Offer a broader range of after-school clubs and activities.
- Ensure all children receive swimming lessons taught by certified swimming instructors.
- Provide catch-up swimming programs for children in Years 4, 5, and 6, with the goal of ensuring that all students can swim 25 meters by the time they leave primary school, in line with government guidelines.
Planned Spending
- Teaching staff have benefited from high-quality professional development (CPD) provided by Sports Coaching Group, which has significantly improved the quality of PE teaching and learning.
- A wider range of sports coaching has been made available, resulting in more students participating in after-school and breakfast clubs.
- All students have received specialized coaching in various sports and skills, enriching their physical education experience.