Pupil Premium Spend and Impact
What is Pupil Premium Funding?
The Department for Education (DfE) provides additional funding, known as Pupil Premium, to support specific groups of pupils aged between 5 and 16 years, who may be disadvantaged because of their family circumstances. It is the DfE’s aim that this funding is used to ‘close the gap’ in attainment that may exist between pupils from these families and their peers.
Pupil Premium funding is allocated to schools with pupils:
- who are known to have been eligible for free school meals(FSM) in the last six years (Ever 6)
- who have been continuously ‘looked after’ for the past six months or who have been adopted into care
- whose parents are currently in the armed forces or are in receipt of a pension from the MoD.
If your child goes to a Shropshire Council-maintained school or academy school you may be able to claim for free school meals. There are two types of free school meals:
- Government (benefits-related) free school meals
- Universal infant free school meals
Who qualifies for government free school meals?
Free school meals are available to pupils in receipt of, or whose parents are in receipt of, one or more of the following benefits:
- Universal credit (provided you have an annual net earned income of no more than £7,400, as assessed by earnings from up to three of your most recent assessment periods)
- Income support
- Income-based jobseeker’s allowance
- Income-related employment and support allowance
- Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- The guarantee element of pension credit
- Child tax credit (provided you’re not also entitled to working tax credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
- Working tax credit run-on – paid for four weeks after you stop qualifying for working tax credit.
To apply for Free School Meals for your child please visit the Shropshire Council website by clicking on the link below or come in to talk to us in school.
Why is there Pupil Premium Funding?
Department for Education data shows that pupils who have been eligible for Free School Meals at any point in their school career have consistently lower educational attainment than those who have never been eligible. For example, in 2009-10 GCSE statistics showed that around a third of students who had been on Free School Meals in the previous six years achieved five or more A*- C grades, compared to more than two thirds of their fellow students.
How is Pupil Premium Spent?
The DfE has given schools the freedom to use Pupil Premium funding as we see fit, based upon our knowledge of our pupils’ needs. We are, however, accountable and have to be able to show how we spend the money to support those pupils it is intended for. How Pupil Premium is spent is monitored closely for impact on pupils’ progress.
At Christ Church Pupil Premium funding that is received by our school is used in a variety of ways to improve pupil attainment and to help overcome barriers to learning. We pride ourselves on utilising the Pupil Premium to support our pupils with a particular focus on key English and Mathematics skills and on supporting our pupils to be ‘ready to learn’. We strive to ensure that all children who are entitled to pupil premium grant make expected progress in reading, writing and maths and that we are minimising and ‘disadvantage gap’.
In order to ensure maximum impact the needs of pupils entitled to Pupil Premium funding are clearly identified, steps are taken to meet their individual needs and their progress is closely monitored throughout the year. Leaders track progress and evaluate the impact of plans, making adjustments where necessary to continue to meet the needs of individuals.
How many pupils at Christ Church are eligible for Pupil Premium?
Currently 18% of students at Christ Church are eligible for Pupil Premium. (Autumn term 2025 school census)
How will the impact of the spending of the Pupil Premium be measured?
At Christ Church the usual cycle of data collection and the monitoring and tracking of the cohort’s attainment will be used to inform pupil progress and enable the early identification of need, support and appropriate intervention.
To view more information about Christ Church’s Pupil Premium spending and impact, click on this link which will take you to our 2025-2026 plan and also includes the review of 2024-25:
Pupil Premium Strategy 2024-2025
Pupil Premium Strategy 2025-2026