Pupil Premium & Free School Meals

FREE SCHOOL MEALS

Children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 receive Universal Free School Meals. 

As children move into Year 3, the UNIVERSAL FREE SCHOOL MEALS entitlement ends for all children and, according to government guidance, families need to apply for Free School Meal status. This entitlement is income/benefit assessed.

We would encourage fammilies of children in Year 3 upwards to apply for Free School Meals as soon as possible, so if you are eligible, your child can receive Free School meals.

You can apply for support through Free School Meals if you receive any of these benefits:

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Support under Part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• The guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (as long as you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
• Universal Credit: if you apply on or after 1 April 2018 your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get. This is also called the 'minimum income floor'.)

If you receive any of the benefits above, apply for Free School Meals at;

Free school meals and travel (bristol.gov.uk)

You must provide either your National Insurance Number or National Asylum Support Service (NASS) Number.

WHAT IS THE PUPIL PREMIUM?

Pupil Premium is an amount of money provided to schools and allocated to disadvantaged children in order to close the achievement gap.

The government believes that the Pupil Premium, which is additional to main school funding, is the best way to address the inequalities between children eligible for free school meals (FSM), looked after children & service children and other pupils.  Four categories of pupils are eligible:

o   Pupils currently entitled to FSM

o   Pupils recorded as ‘ever 6 FSM’ (pupils who have been eligible for FSM at any point during their 6 years of primary school education)

o   Looked after children and those children who have been adopted from care

o   Children of Service personnel

HOW IS THE PUPIL PREMIUM ALLOCATED?

Pupil Premium is allocated straight to our school and it is clearly identifiable. Schools are free to spend the Pupil Premium as they feel is appropriate. The government thinks that schools are best placed to assess what additional provision should be made for individual pupils within their responsibility. However, all schools will be held accountable for how they have used additional funding to support pupils from low-income families and in care. The schools must report and publicise annually how the money has been spent and what the impact has been made on the achievements of the pupils. These reports are available to view below. 

APPLY FOR PUPIL PREMIUM IF YOUR CHILD IS IN RECEPTION, YEAR 1 OR YEAR 2:

Reception-Year-1-or-Year-2-Pupil-Premium-Checker-Form

APPLY FOR PUPIL PREMIUM IF YOUR CHILD IS IN YEARS 3 - 6:

 Free school meals and the pupil premium - bristol.gov.uk