Pupil Premium Funding
Our Vision & Mission
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Vision Statement: Our Academy delivers a purposeful curriculum through its living Christian faith. We nurture ambition in all our learners in order for them to become positive citizens of tomorrow.
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Mission Statement: Nurturing ambition through a living faith.
At Darwen St James’, we are committed to ensuring that every child, regardless of their background, makes the best possible progress and reaches their full potential.
What is the Pupil Premium?
The Pupil Premium is additional funding provided by the government to state-funded schools in England. It is designed to help schools raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and narrow the gap between them and their peers nationally.
Pupil Premium funding is allocated for pupils who fall into any of the following categories:
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Ever 6 Free School Meals (FSM): Pupils who are currently registered for benefit-based Free School Meals, or who have been registered at any point in the last 6 years.
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Looked-After Children (LAC) & Previously Looked-After Children (PLAC): Children who are in local authority care, or who have left care through adoption, a Special Guardianship Order, or a Child Arrangements Order.
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Service Pupil Premium: Children with a parent currently serving in the Armed Forces, or who has served in the last 6 years.
How We Use Our Pupil Premium Funding
Schools are given the flexibility to allocate funding based on the specific needs of their pupils. In line with Department for Education (DfE) and Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) guidance, we spend our funding across three key areas:
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High-Quality Teaching: Investing in staff training, recruitment, and resources to ensure all children receive high-quality classroom instruction every day.
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Targeted Academic Support: Providing structured small-group interventions, 1-to-1 support, and tailored learning activities to accelerate progress in reading, writing, and maths.
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Wider Strategies: Supporting pastoral care, emotional well-being, mental health, attendance support, and ensuring equal access to school trips, breakfast club, and enrichment activities.
Measuring Impact
At Darwen St James, we track the progress and attainment of every pupil every term. We regularly review the impact of our Pupil Premium strategy to ensure that interventions are effective, targeted, and helping our children thrive both academically and pastorally.
Statutory Strategy Statement
Each academic year, we publish a detailed Pupil Premiu Strategy Statement following the official DfE template. This document outlines our funding allocation, key priorities, spending breakdown, and the impact of previous spending.
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