Pupil Premium and Free School Meals

At Lunsford Primary School, we are committed to ensuring that every child has the opportunity to achieve their full potential, regardless of their background or circumstances.

The Pupil Premium is additional funding provided by the government to support disadvantaged pupils and help reduce barriers to learning. Schools use this funding to provide targeted support that improves educational outcomes, supports wellbeing and helps all children to thrive.

Who is eligible for Pupil Premium funding?

Pupil Premium funding is allocated for pupils who meet certain criteria, including:

• Children who are eligible for Free School Meals (FSM), including those who have been eligible at any point in the past six years.
• Children who are looked after by the local authority.
• Children who have previously been looked after, including children who have left care through adoption or certain guardianship arrangements.

Separate funding is also available to support children from families connected to the Armed Forces.

How we use Pupil Premium funding

At Lunsford Primary School, we carefully consider the needs of our pupils and use Pupil Premium funding to provide support that has a positive impact on learning, progress and wellbeing.

This may include:

• Targeted academic support and intervention.
• Support for reading, language development and communication.
• Enrichment opportunities and wider curriculum experiences.
• Support for attendance, engagement and emotional wellbeing.
• Access to resources and opportunities that remove barriers to learning.

Our Pupil Premium Strategy explains how funding is allocated, the actions we take and the impact this has on outcomes for pupils.

Free School Meals

Registering for Free School Meals can provide valuable support for your child and helps our school to access additional funding to support pupils.

Children who are eligible for Free School Meals can receive:

• A healthy, nutritious meal each school day at no cost.
• Meals that can be adapted to meet cultural, dietary and religious requirements.
• The opportunity to enjoy lunchtime with friends and develop social skills.

Even if your child is already receiving universal free school meals, registering for Free School Meals (where eligible) is still important because it allows the school to access additional funding to support children.

Checking eligibility for Free School Meals

You can check whether your child is eligible for Free School Meals through the Kent County Council application process:

• Free School Meals eligibility and application

If you would like confidential support with completing an application, please contact our Family Liaison Officer:

Telephone: 01732 843352
Email: fflo@lunsford.kent.sch.uk

Our Pupil Premium Promise

At Lunsford Primary School, we are committed to ensuring that pupils eligible for Pupil Premium funding receive the support, opportunities and encouragement they need to succeed.

Our Pupil Premium Promise sets out the experiences and support we aim to provide for eligible pupils, while our Pupil Premium Strategy explains how funding is used and the impact it has on improving outcomes.

Further Information

Please see the documents below:

• Pupil Premium Strategy
• Pupil Premium Impact Report
• Pupil Premium Promise

These documents provide further information about how we support disadvantaged pupils and how we evaluate the effectiveness of our approach.

At Lunsford Primary School:

• We ensure that teaching and learning opportunities meet the needs of all the pupils.
• We ensure that appropriate provision is made for pupils who belong to vulnerable groups. This includes ensuring that the needs of socially disadvantaged pupils are adequately assessed and addressed.
• In making provision for socially disadvantaged pupils, we recognise that not all pupils who receive free school meals will be socially disadvantaged.
• We also recognise 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 funding to support any pupil or groups of pupils the school has legitimately identified as being socially disadvantaged.

Early Years Pupil Premium

We will endeavour to identify our least advantaged pupils and inform parents or carers of their opportunity to apply for their child’s entitlement to extra funding in school. All extra funding we receive will be used to support areas in which we identify that the child will best benefit. We will track children’s progress to ensure that they are making good progress and to ensure that support is adjusted to target specific areas as the child develops.