Applying for Free School Meals

FREE SCHOOL MEALS and PUPIL PREMIUM FUNDING ELIGIBILITY CHECK

Whilst attending an infant class you child has been entitled to non means tested Universal Free School Meals; this is not the case now they have reached KS2 where entitlement to free school meals is benefit based.

You must be in receipt of one of the below benefits to be eligible for a Free School Meal for your child/children.

 Income Support

 Employment & Support Allowance – Income related

 Income Based Job Seekers Allowance (NOT Contribution Based JSA)

 Child Tax Credit only (with a combined family income of less than £16,190 per annum as assessed by HM Revenues & Customs).

Please note, anyone receiving Working Tax Credit, regardless of income, will NOT qualify for FSMs.

 Working Tax Credit run-on – paid 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

 Universal Credit

 National Asylum Seekers Support (NASS)

 Guaranteed Element of Pension Tax Credit Each child who is eligible for free school meals, or has been within 6 years, brings additional funding to the school. This is called Pupil Premium.

SMSG is now able to check and collect information regarding Free School Meals and Pupil Premium through Capita. You can register to find out if your child is eligible by following the link below.

The system is quick and simple to use and can be accessed via a home computer, smartphone or hand held device. It is easy to register all you need is your name, address, phone number, national insurance number and email address, which you can enter at the website.

You can just put in your Free School Meal application number if you have one.

https://www.cloudforedu.org.uk/ofsm/sims

If you qualify, please show the Application Summary to the school office on your smartphone or print a copy for the school.

Please come and see us in the school office if you have any problems registering.

The Pupil Premium is a grant that is given to the school to support children who are in low-income families and who may need additional support to achieve their best in school.  Any parent who registers their child for Free School Meals automatically triggers additional grant to the school.  For this reason we ask all parents to register - even if they do not want the free meal.  Children who qualify for Pupil premium then have reduced costs for school clubs, music lessons and residential visits.

We also provide additional intervention in school to support children and help to 'close the gap' between the most able and the lower achievers.

We are all unique in the eyes of God and together we enjoy, aspire and achieve

Pupil Premium Grant (PPG) Report (updated 1.10.19)

Governor responsible for oversight of expenditure & outcomes of Pupil Premium Grant: Clive Williams

Context

St Mary and St Giles Church of England School receives additional funding in the form of the Pupil Premium Grant to support:

• Pupils in the school who have received free school meals in one or more of the previous 6 years
• Children on roll who are eligible for FSM
• Pupils previously entitled to FSM (PPG)
• Pupils in the school who are looked after
• Children of parents who work for the armed services

Provision

The range of provision the school has considered include:

• Reducing class sizes thus improving opportunities for personalised learning and accelerating progress
• Providing small group work with an experienced teacher or trained TA focussed on overcoming gaps in learning
• Providing teachers with high quality professional development including team teaching, coaching, peer observations and external courses
• Additional teaching and learning opportunities provided through learning mentors, trained TAs or external agencies
• Provision of additional resources (e.g. ICT programmes and hardware) to support learning of specific groups who do not have access to quality ICT at home
• Investing in enrichment activities that inspire and motivate children
• Working with families to improve attendance and punctuality
• Providing educational experiences beyond the school day eg booster classes, homework club, breakfast club, a wide range of extra-curricular activities to enrich the curriculum
• Subsidising visits, trips and residential school journeys
• Providing opportunities for family learning

Aim

All our work funded by the Pupil Premium Grant will be aimed at accelerating pupil progress so that children eligible for free school meals reach at least age related expectations and develop their self-confidence. We recognise that not all pupils who receive free school meals will be socially disadvantaged and that not all pupils who are socially disadvantaged are registered or qualify for free school meals. We reserve the right to allocate the Pupil Premium Grant to support any pupil or groups of pupils the school has legitimately identified as being socially disadvantaged. At least 50% of any group will be made up of PPG children.

Allocation

The Pupil Premium Grant will be allocated following a needs analysis  which will identify priority classes, groups or individuals. Limited funding and resources means that not all children receiving free school meals will be in receipt of Pupil Premium interventions at any one time.

Reporting

It will be the responsibility of the Head teacher, Deputy Head teacher, SENCOs and senior leaders, to produce regular reports for the Governors on:

• the progress made towards narrowing the gap for socially disadvantaged pupils
• an outline of the provision that was made
• an evaluation of the cost effectiveness of the progress made by the pupils receiving a particular intervention

The publication of online information stating how the pupil premium has been used

The Governors of the school will publish information on how they have used the Pupil Premium Grant to address the issue of ‘narrowing the gap’ for socially disadvantaged pupils.