Pupil Premium

Pupil premium

Pupil premium is extra government funding to help close the gap between disadvantaged pupils and their classmates. Schools receive it for each child who has been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years, children who are or have been looked after, and children of armed forces families.

At St Joseph's we use it to make sure every child reads, writes and does maths with confidence, attends school regularly, and enjoys the same experiences as everyone else. Our full plan, including how we spent last year's funding and what difference it made, is below.

[Pupil Premium Strategy Statement 2026–27 (PDF)]

Could your child be eligible? If you receive certain benefits, your child may qualify for free school meals, which also brings extra funding into school for them. Ask the office in confidence. Nobody outside the staff team will know.

Strategy statement for the DfE template, Part A: this year's strategy

School overview

Detail	Data
Number of pupils in school	50
Proportion of pupil premium eligible pupils	26% (13 pupils eligible for targeted free school meals). We support 23 pupils (46%), including 10 newly eligible for expanded free school meals.
Academic years covered	2026/27 to 2028/29
Date published	October 2026
Date reviewed	December 2027
Statement authorised by	Annette Savage, Headteacher
Pupil premium lead	Annette Savage, Headteacher
Governor lead	Rebecca Rennoldson

Funding overview

Detail	Amount
Pupil premium funding allocation this academic year	£
Pupil premium funding carried forward from previous years	£
Total budget for this academic year	£

Statement of intent

Our aim is that disadvantaged pupils at St Joseph's read, write and do maths as well as their classmates, attend school every day, and take a full part in school life. Our 2026 results show that pupils are now making much better progress, but this has not yet turned into high enough attainment by the end of Year 6, especially for disadvantaged pupils. This plan therefore concentrates on three things:

reading and maths attainment,

the basic skills of writing,

and the attendance of disadvantaged pupils.

As a small school we know every child well, so we track each disadvantaged pupil individually and act as soon as they start to fall behind. Most spending goes on high-quality teaching for all pupils, with targeted catch-up and attendance support added on top. Many of our disadvantaged pupils also have special educational needs, so this plan works alongside our SEND provision. As DfE guidance allows, our support also includes the 10 pupils newly eligible for free school meals under the expanded entitlement, who we consider economically disadvantaged.

Challenges

Challenge number	Detail of challenge
1	Low attainment in reading and maths by the end of key stage 2. Over the last three years, 13% of our disadvantaged pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, against 47% of disadvantaged pupils nationally. No pupils reached the higher standard in 2025 or 2026.
2	Weak fundamental writing skills (handwriting, spelling and basic punctuation), identified by Ofsted in January 2025. At the end of Year 2 in 2026, disadvantaged pupils were behind their classmates in reading and writing.
3	Attendance. In 2025/26 whole-school attendance was 94.4%, below national (94.7%) and the local authority (95.1%), and 14.3% of pupils were persistently absent. Pupil premium pupils' attendance was 91.7%, against 95.9% for other pupils, and 31.8% were persistently absent. Most of their absence was illness, with a pattern of absence around school holidays. Absence has risen again this autumn, mostly unauthorised.
4	A high overlap between disadvantage and SEND. 10% of our pupils have an EHC plan (4.1% nationally); autism and speech, language and communication needs are the most common needs.
5	Fewer opportunities outside school for cultural, sporting and enrichment experiences in our rural community.

Intended outcomes

Intended outcome	Success criteria
Higher reading and maths attainment for disadvantaged pupils	The gap between disadvantaged pupils and others narrows each term in internal assessments. By 2028/29, the three-year proportion of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths rises towards the national figure for disadvantaged pupils.
Secure core writing skills	Every disadvantaged pupil is at age-related expectations in termly handwriting, spelling and punctuation checks, or has a named catch-up plan.
Better attendance	Attendance of disadvantaged pupils is at least 92.4% in 2026/27 and rises each year; no more than 4 pupil premium pupils are persistently absent in 2026/27 (below 20%), with fewer each year after.
Strong early reading	Disadvantaged pupils pass the Year 1 phonics screening check alongside their classmates.
Wider opportunities	100% of disadvantaged pupils take part in at least one club and every school trip each year.

Activity in this academic year

Teaching (budgeted cost: £[x])

Activity	Menu strand	Evidence that supports this approach	Challenge(s) addressed
Daily 10-minute maths fluency practice (number facts and times tables) in Years 2 to 6; maths curriculum re-sequenced for mixed-age classes	High-quality teaching, assessment and curriculum	DfE Teaching mathematics in primary schools; EEF guidance on improving mathematics in key stages 2 and 3	1
Reading fluency and comprehension teaching in key stage 2: repeated reading, explicit vocabulary, building test stamina	High-quality teaching, assessment and curriculum	DfE Reading Framework; EEF guidance on improving literacy in key stage 2	1
One handwriting scheme across the school and systematic spelling teaching that builds on phonics	High-quality teaching, assessment and curriculum	DfE Writing Framework; EEF guidance on improving literacy in key stages 1 and 2	2
Read Write Inc training and fidelity checks	Professional development, including training from a DfE-validated phonics programme	DfE Reading Framework; EEF phonics evidence	1, 2
Staff training on autism and speech, language and communication needs	Professional development	EEF guidance on SEND in mainstream schools	4

Targeted academic support (budgeted cost: £)

Activity	Menu strand	Evidence that supports this approach	Challenge(s) addressed
Trained teaching assistants deliver targeted maths and reading interventions, prioritising disadvantaged pupils	Teaching assistant deployment and interventions	EEF guidance on making best use of teaching assistants	1, 4
Decoding checks for every key stage 2 pupil, with phonics catch-up for any who are not secure	Targeted interventions for literacy	DfE Reading Framework; EEF phonics evidence	1
Short daily catch-up in handwriting, spelling and punctuation for pupils below expectations	Targeted interventions for literacy	DfE Writing Framework	2
Daily Read Write Inc keep-up sessions, including catch-up for pupils who miss sessions through absence	One-to-one and small group tuition	EEF one-to-one tuition evidence	1, 3
Targeted support for disadvantaged pupils with SEND, matched to their support plans	Targeted interventions for disadvantaged pupils with SEND	EEF guidance on SEND in mainstream schools	4

Wider strategies (budgeted cost: £ )

Activity	Menu strand	Evidence that supports this approach	Challenge(s) addressed
Attendance work with families of disadvantaged pupils: first-day calls, early meetings, home visits where needed, clear advice on when children are well enough to attend, reminders before each school holiday, and the local authority's support route	Supporting attendance; communicating with and supporting parents	DfE Working Together to Improve School Attendance; EEF Supporting School Attendance	3
Free breakfast club places	Breakfast clubs and meal provision	EEF evaluation of Magic Breakfast	3
Subsidised trips, clubs, music and swimming	Enrichment, including sport and arts participation	EEF evidence on arts participation and physical activity	5

Total budgeted cost: £[ ]

Review of the previous academic year

Outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in 2025/26

This statement replaces our 2022–24 strategy and reviews the 2025/26 year as a whole.

Attainment and progress. Progress at the end of key stage 2 improved strongly in 2026. Scores were reading −3.2, writing −0.7 and maths −3.2, compared with around −7.5 in 2023, and none is now significantly below national. Grammar, punctuation and spelling rose from 0% at the expected standard in 2025 to 50% in 2026. However, attainment is still too low: over three years only 13% of disadvantaged pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, and no pupil reached the higher standard. Reading and maths attainment for disadvantaged pupils is therefore the main focus of this plan.

Key stage 1. At the end of Year 2 in 2026, disadvantaged pupils did at least as well as their classmates in maths, but fewer met the expected standard in reading and writing. Core writing skills and reading catch-up now start earlier.

Attendance. Across 2025/26, whole-school attendance was 94.4%, close to national (94.7%) but below the local authority (95.1%). Persistent absence was 14.3%, and unauthorised absence 1.3%. The gap for pupil premium pupils is wide: their attendance was 91.7% against 95.9% for other pupils, and 31.8% were persistently absent, which accounts for most of the school's persistent absence. About two-thirds of their missed days were recorded as illness, and nearly half of them had absence next to a school holiday. Because the group is small, each pupil moves the persistent absence figure by about 4.5 percentage points, so we track individual pupils as well as percentages. Attendance has slipped further this autumn, so support for the attendance of disadvantaged pupils is a priority again.

Wider outcomes. Behaviour remains a strength: there were no suspensions or permanent exclusions in 2025/26. [Add 2025/26 participation in clubs, trips and breakfast club.]

Externally provided programmes

Programme	Provider
Read Write Inc. Phonics	Ruth Miskin Training / Oxford University Press
Times Tables Rock Stars	Maths Circle

Service pupil premium funding

[If the school receives service pupil premium: how it was spent and its impact. If not, state "Not applicable".]

Pupil premium stragegy 22,23,24 pdf