Free School Meals & Pupil Premium

Who is entitled to free school meals?

Parents do not have to pay for school lunches if they receive any of the following:

• Universal Credit - your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)
• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• The guaranteed element of state Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (provided you're not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more £16,190)
• Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for four weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

Children who get paid these benefits directly can also get free school meals.

The school uses a cashless catering system in the dining room. This allows your son to purchase their free school meal in exactly the same way as any other pupil.

How to apply

Students, Parents, and Carers can apply for free school meals online at the Lincolnshire County Council Parent Portal

For more information, please e-mail the Lincolnshire County Council Customer Service Centre or call on 01522 782030.

What is the Pupil Premium?

The school receives a Pupil Premium payment for students who are eligible for free school meals, or have been eligible in the past 6 years; students who have been adopted from care or have left care and children who are looked after by the local authority. This additional funding will be invested in your child to help them achieve more at school.

We provide assistance with uniform, including sports kit and support with trips. If eligible for free school meals, you may also be entitled to claim other forms of assistance.

More information and how to apply online for Free School Meals is available on the Lincolnshire County Council website. Please feel free to contact the school with any questions you have.

Pupil premium strategy statement

The Education Endowment Foundation state:

“Good teaching is the most important lever schools have to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils”

School Overview

Funding Overview

Disadvantaged Pupil Performance Overview for Last Academic Year of Public Examinations

Strategy Aims for Disadvantaged Pupils

Our intention is that all pupils, irrespective of their background or the challenges they face, make good progress and achieve high attainment across the curriculum, facilitating them moving to Level 3 Apprenticeships and University Entry.

We will consider the challenges faced by vulnerable pupils, such as those who have a social worker and young carers. The activity we have outlined in this statement is also intended to support their needs, regardless of whether they are disadvantaged or not.

High-quality teaching is at the heart of our approach, with a focus on areas in which disadvantaged pupils require the most support.  This is proven to have the greatest impact on closing the disadvantage attainment gap and at the same time will benefit the non-disadvantaged pupils in our school.  Implicit in the intended outcomes detailed below, is the intention that non-disadvantaged pupils’ attainment will be sustained and improved alongside progress for their disadvantaged peers.

Our approach will be responsive to common challenges and individual needs, rooted in robust diagnostic assessment, not assumptions about the impact of disadvantage.  The approaches we have adopted complement each other to help pupils excel. To ensure they are effective we will:

• ensure disadvantaged pupils are challenged in the work that they are set
• act early to intervene at the point need is identified
• adopt a whole school approach in which all staff take responsibility for disadvantaged pupils’ outcomes and raise expectations of what they can achieve

The King's School is a school where disadvantaged pupils already achieve exceptional outcomes. Our Pupil Premium strategy therefore focuses on:

1. Maintaining Excellence: Ensuring our disadvantaged pupils continue to achieve at the highest levels, with outcomes that match or exceed those of non-disadvantaged peers
2. Enrichment Parity: Removing financial barriers to full participation in the wider curriculum, ensuring disadvantaged pupils access the same opportunities (Duke of Edinburgh, trips, music, sport) as their peers
3. Cultural Capital: Building knowledge and experiences that support university applications, competitive apprenticeships, and successful transitions to sixth form
4. Wellbeing & Belonging: Supporting the social and emotional needs of disadvantaged pupils in a selective environment where some may feel isolated or different from peers

Intended Outcomes

Teaching Priorities for Current Academic Year

Targeted Academic Support for Current Academic Year

Wider Strategies for Current Academic Year

Monitoring and Implementation

Review: Last Year’s Aims and Outcomes

Our assessments demonstrated that pupil behaviour, wellbeing and mental health were significantly impacted during Covid-19 and are not recovering as quickly as nationally suggested. The impact was particularly acute for disadvantaged pupils. We used pupil premium funding to provide wellbeing support for all pupils, and targeted interventions where required. We are building on that approach in our new plan.

Academic Outcomes: - Progress 8: 0.53 EXCEEDED TARGET

Attainment 8: 68.8 EXCEEDED TARGET

English & Maths 5+: 82% EQUALED TARGET

Attendance: 94.8% - BELOW TARGET

What Worked

1. Accelerated Reader: Average reading age gain of 11 months for participants; 95% engagement

2. Year 6 Transition Programme: Students used the Atom learning programme and an increase in applications from PP

3. Uniform Vouchers: high uptake

4. Educational Visits: 100% PP participation in curriculum visits

What Didn't Work

1. Mathematics Intervention: Only 60% attendance; impact unclear

2. EBacc Promotion: Entry still only 30% (below target of 40%)