Oldbury Academy

At Oldbury Academy all members of staff and Governors accept responsibility for 'disadvantaged' students and are committed to meeting their pastoral, social and academic needs within a caring environment. This is an essential, integral part of the development of the whole school community. Our SLT Lead on Pupil is Mr James Cannon and our PP Co-ordinator is Mrs Karen Riley. As with every child in our care, a child who is considered to be 'disadvantaged' is valued, respected and entitled to develop to his/ her full potential, irrespective of need or disadvantage. The Pupil Premium is a Government initiative that targets extra money at students from deprived backgrounds, which research shows underachieve compared to their non-deprived peers. The Pupil Premium is provided in order to support students to raise attainment, promote social skills, independent learning and positive behaviour in order to increase pupil progress. The Government has used students entitled to Free School Meals as an indicator for deprivation, and have deployed a fixed amount of money to schools per student, based on the number of students registered for Free School meals. The Government decided that eligibility for the Pupil Premium in 2012-2013 will be extended to students who have been eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) at any point in the last 6 years (Ever 6). A premium has also been introduced for children whose parents are currently in the armed forces and those in care. It is for schools and academies to decide how to best spend the Pupil Premium Funding and whilst the Government is clearly not dictating how schools should spend this money, it is clear that we should employ strategies that are known to support our students to increase attainment, and, in the case of disadvantaged students to 'narrow the gap'. All schools and academies are accountable for narrowing the gap and, since September 2012, we have been required to publish online information about how we have used the Pupil Premium. This ensures that parents and others are made fully aware of the attainment of students covered by the Pupil Premium and the extra support that they receive. In order to meet the above requirements, we will ensure that provision is made which secures the teaching and learning opportunities that meet the needs of all students. In making provision for socially disadvantaged students, we recognise that not all students who receive free school meals will be socially disadvantaged. Oldbury Academy also recognises that not all students who are socially disadvantaged are registered or qualify for free school meals. As such we reserve the right to allocate the Pupil Premium funding to support any student or groups of students the school has legitimately identified as being socially disadvantaged.