At St Thomas à Becket Primary School, we are committed to ensuring that every child can achieve their full potential, regardless of their background or circumstances. We believe that disadvantage should never be a barrier to success and that every child deserves access to high-quality teaching, enriching experiences and the support they need to thrive academically, socially and emotionally. 

The Government provides additional funding, known as the Pupil Premium Grant, to support pupils who may face barriers to learning. This includes pupils who are eligible for Free School Meals, have been eligible within the last six years, are looked after by a local authority, have previously been looked after, or are eligible for Service Pupil Premium. 

Our Vision

At St Thomas à Becket, we actively embrace and celebrate the diversity within our school community. We work in partnership with pupils, families, staff, governors and the wider community to create a culture where inequality is addressed, barriers are removed and high expectations are shared by all. Our aim is to develop resilient learners with strong character and positive attitudes towards learning, providing children with the roots to grow and the confidence to fly.

Because we are a small school, we know every child as an individual. This enables us to understand each pupil's strengths, needs and circumstances and to provide highly personalised support where it is needed most. 

Our Approach

Our Pupil Premium strategy is built around three key principles:

Excellent Education Through Quality First Teaching

High-quality teaching has the greatest impact on pupil outcomes and is at the heart of our approach. We invest in staff development, curriculum improvement and evidence-informed teaching strategies to ensure all pupils receive the very best classroom experience. 

Targeted Academic and Pastoral Support

Where children require additional support, we provide carefully planned interventions that address individual needs. This may include academic programmes, one-to-one tuition, early language support, reading interventions or pastoral support through our Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA). 

Wider Opportunities and Enrichment

We believe that all children should have access to experiences that broaden horizons, build confidence and develop cultural capital. We therefore seek to ensure that disadvantaged pupils can fully participate in educational visits, clubs, enrichment activities and wider opportunities offered by the school. 

Current Priorities

Our current strategy focuses on:

• Increasing access to enrichment opportunities and cultural capital.
• Improving attendance and reducing persistent absence.
• Accelerating progress for pupils who have gaps in learning.
• Supporting emotional wellbeing, resilience and behaviour for learning. 

To achieve these aims, we provide a range of support including:

• Early language development programmes.
• Reading and phonics interventions.
• One-to-one and small-group tuition.
• ELSA support and emotional wellbeing interventions.
• Attendance support for families.
• Subsidies for trips, visits and extracurricular activities.
• Staff training focused on improving outcomes for disadvantaged learners. 

Measuring Impact

The progress, attainment, attendance and wellbeing of disadvantaged pupils are monitored closely throughout the year. School leaders, teachers and governors regularly review the impact of our provision to ensure that funding is used effectively and that support is making a meaningful difference to children's outcomes.

Our most recent reviews show that attainment for disadvantaged pupils continues to improve and that gaps between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged learners are narrowing over time. While there is still work to do, our strategy is having a positive impact and remains a key priority within our school improvement work.

Our full Pupil Premium Strategy Statement provides detailed information on:

• Funding allocations.
• Identified barriers to learning.
• Planned spending and interventions.
• Intended outcomes.
• Review of previous impact.

Please see the document below for further information.