We have high aspirations for all the children in our school community and believe that all children should have access to a wide and rich range of opportunities in order for them to flourish in their potential. Therefore we seek, as a school community, to provide personalised learning opportunities and targeted support to allow every child to achieve their best.
Through quality first teaching and well-planned interventions, we ensure that the provision is made which secures teaching and learning opportunities that meet the needs of all pupils. We are also committed to meeting the children's pastoral, social and emotional needs within the school environment.
All matters regarding entitlement to extra support and how and when we use funding, which derives from the pupil premium grant, are treated with discretion and confidence. Also, we can assure all parents and carers that we do not assume that being entitled to free school meal means a child will be academically less able or be more like to have any additional or special educational needs
Pupil Premium funding is given to schools so that we can give better support to disadvantaged pupils and reduce the attainment gap between them and their peers. At St Michael’s all members of staff and governors have high ambitions and high expectations for all our pupils and we are committed to ‘diminishing the difference’ for pupil premium children. We are also dedicated to meeting the children’s pastoral, social and academic needs within the school environment. As a school we can decide how the funding is spent and we are able to decide what additional provision or support should be made for each individual child.
Pupil premium funding is based on parents' eligibility for (benefits-based) Free School Meals. As a parent, you will be entitled to Free School Meals if you are in receipt of any of the following benefits:
An application for Free School Meals will confirm whether you are eligible and allow the school to claim the Pupil Premium funding.
To apply you need to create an account and submit an online application at the link below:
www.lewisham.gov.uk/freeschoolmeals
We use our pupil premium, along with all of our financial and human resources, to do all we can to ensure that children have access to a wide and rich range of opportunities in order for them to flourish in their potential. We can assure parents and carers that all matters regarding entitlement to extra support and how and when we use funding, which derives from the pupil premium, are treated with discretion and in confidence. We can also assure all parents and carers that we do not assume that being entitled to free school meals means a child will be academically less able or be more likely to have any additional or special educational needs.
The Pupil Premium strategy and progress is reviewed annually in the Autumn term.
A
copy of our Pupil Premium Statement for the
current academic year (2022 - 2023) can be accessed by clicking here.
St Michael’s has strong commitment to develop fit, active and engaged children and we value the importance of physical activity and sport. The children are encouraged to undertake a range of sports and activities both within the Physical Education (PE) curriculum, at playtimes and also in extra-curricular activities. We have dedicated PE slots and provide a high quality curriculum that inspires all children to succeed and excel. Our children are physically confident and through sport are taught the importance of fairness and respect, good team-play and good sportsmanship.
The Departments for Education, Health and Culture and Media and Sport have allocated ring-fenced funding to support the provision of PE and sport in schools.
Impact
Sport has always had a high profile within our school, however, the funding has helped us to encourage the children to participate in active games with greater skill and accuracy. As a result of the grant, we can provide higher quality PE opportunities for all, both in curriculum and out of hour provisions. The introduction of the St Michael's tracksuits have had a significant impact... not only do the children enjoy coming to school in their tracksuit, excited because it is 'PE day', but it also maximises the PE time, as no time is wasted getting changed. The stimulating playground activities and equipment give the children the opportunity to explore a range of different challenges and disciplines. We found that children being part of organised activities, such as dancing, get less involved in negative behaviour. Team games and inter-school competitions have encouraged a positive spirit amongst the different age groups. Children developed their understanding of team work, sportsmanship and resilience, which are skills that will benefit them throughout their lives. They also developed a love for the sport in which they were competing.
Plans for spending the PE Grant for 2022 - 2023 and the impact of spending last year can be viewed by clicking here (pdf).