Pupil Premium

The Pupil Premium is additional funding allocated to schools by the Department for Education. The Pupil Premium is calculated according to: the number of children from low-income families who are known to be eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) now or at any point in the last 6 years; who have been Looked After Children (LAC); and Service children. 

At South Nottinghamshire Academy, we have a culture of high expectations and pushing our boundaries to achieve more. As an inclusive school, we truly value our comprehensive intake which makes for a strong, diverse community of students from a wide range of backgrounds and abilities. Our percentage of Pupil Premium (PP) students is in line with national average (24%)  but remains the highest within the Rushcliffe borough. We take our responsibility for improving the life chances of young people through education, pastoral support and high academic results very seriously. The academic outcomes of pupil premium students have been rising steadily over the past few years and is now above the national average.

The number of children qualifying for Free School Meals in the school has been rising over the past 5 years both as the school is expanding and as a result of the ongoing global pandemic. This has brought with it some challenges – which our Pupil Premium strategy is designed to address.

With a relentless focus on high quality teaching and learning, high expectations for all and building strong relationships, the school’s priority is raising both PP achievement and ensuring the ‘sense of belonging’ of PP students within the school community. Pupil Premium achievement and engagement is identified as every member of staff’s responsibility within the school.

As a school, we recognise that Pupil Premium is not a homogenous group of students and within this group there are a wide range of needs. Our three-year strategy is based on the latest research available from the Education Endowment Fund and other educational experts such as Marc Rowland. The aim of our strategy is to address the individual needs of each child within this group, prioritising and funding a wide range of strategies and programmes across school to further support of all PP learners. The funding continues to be used in order to narrow the gaps between PP and Non PP.

Examples of interventions and use of Pupil Premium funding include:

• Targeted intervention and raising achievement programmes for specific target groups
• Reading programmes 
• Extra-Curricular provision including sporting and performance activities as well as educational visits (enrichment)
• Attendance initiatives
• Learning Support Unit
• Curriculum Support Unit and Inclusion teams
• Reduced class sizes at Key Stage 3
• Teaching and Learning Continued Professional Development sessions for all teaching and associate staff
• Careers guidance and support 

As an Academy we monitor and assess the impact of the Pupil Premium funding in a number of ways:

• Pupil Premium achievement monitoring at Data Collection Points and ZORBA meetings
• Senior Leadership Team meetings
• Extended Leadership Team meetings
• Department meetings
• Pastoral meetings
• Governors meetings
• Pupil Premium Spending Plan & Review meetings
• Trust Pupil Premium Network meetings

The member of staff with responsibility for Pupil Premium is Mrs L Sharpe (Assistant Headteacher) l.sharpe@snacademy.org.uk