Lancashire Virtual School Policy for the allocation of Pupil Premium Grant + (PPG+) for looked after children 2023-24

Background

The DFE allocate funding to each local authority to provide PPG+ for looked after children of statutory school age who are looked after to each LA. The funding from financial year 2023-24 will be allocated on the basis of £2,530 for each CLA in the LA's care. The conditions of the grant state:

The LAC premium must be managed by the designated virtual school head (VSH) and used for the benefit of the looked-after child’s educational needs as described in their personal education plan. The VSH should ensure there are arrangements in place to discuss how the child will benefit from pupil premium funding with the designated teacher in the child’s education setting.

The conditions of grant continues to stipulate that the grant is to be managed by the Virtual School Head Teacher and must be allocated in response to identified needs of the child and to support educational progress for the local authorities cohort of looked after children as a group, and not just to meet individual need.

The Guidance for Virtual School Head Teachers and Designated Teachers) also states:

In addition, we propose stating that all Virtual School Heads should publish a clear policy on the use of Pupil Premium Plus, including any funding top sliced by the Virtual School for authority wide services. This requirement promotes transparency and clarity for schools, carers and families about how local authorities use and manage Pupil Premium Plus funding.

Lancashire Virtual School Policy for the Allocation of PPG+: 2023-24

The amount of PPG+ allocated to each Lancashire looked after child per term will be £620.

The school/setting in which a looked after child is on roll will be allocated £620 per term on receipt of a Personal Education Plan (PEP) that is assessed as at least adequate through the Virtual School's quality assurance process. The PEP must demonstrate that the needs of the child/young person have been identified with a clear link to the intended use of the funding and the planned impact.

The remaining £670 per CLA will form the PPG+ high needs fund and is utilized to:

To provide additional funding support to be provided for pupils who have additional short-term needs identified, or a period of crisis that is impacting directly on learning progress. Schools request this additional funding directly to the Virtual School with evidence of need, details of proposes use and predicted outcomes/impact. Evidence of impact is also required following an appropriate period.
To support the wider strategies and activities of the Virtual School to fulfil the statutory duties.

Requests for additional PPG+ can only be made once a term for any pupil. It is for short term needs and cannot replace long term funding to meet on going needs, such as significant SEN.

The policy of providing access to additional PPG+ to reflect the different levels of needs of individual CLA across time, is in line with the stated conditions of the funding.

Exceptions:

Pupils with an EHCP who are placed in an independent school setting, or any pupil placed in a residential setting with education will not usually receive PPG+ separately. The funding provided to commission the placement is based on meeting the full needs of the child. However, in exceptional circumstances based on evidence of need provided funding may be allocated by the Virtual School Head Teacher.

Monitoring the management of PPG+

Management of PPG+ is the responsibility of the Virtual Head but is also monitored through:

Education Improvement SLT,
Corporate Parenting Board
The use and impact of PPG+ also has to be addressed in the Virtual Head Teacher's Annual Report.
Reports to School Forum as requested.
Ofsted inspection of LA process. The use and impact of PPG+ also has to be addressed in the Virtual Head Teacher's Annual Report

Impact of PPG+

The impact of PPG+ is monitored by:

Required information on the PEP which indicates how the funding will be used to support identified targets and reporting on the impact of previous funding allocated.
High Needs PPG+ allocated is monitored by a mandatory Impact returns for each allocation.
The use and impact of funding is also reviewed as part of the regular tracking visits to each school.
As part of the Annual Report.

Other expenditure:

In accordance with the conditions of grant PPG+ can be used for projects, resources or programmes that support groups of looked after children and training and support to Designated Teachers and schools.

Programmes are identified that relate to priorities identified through tracking or analysis of progress and attainment data.

Examples:

Home Reading Project for an identified group of KS1 and 2 pupils who were not making expected progress. A number of individual pupils increased their reading skills, read more for pleasure and participated in an interactive day with a published poet at County Hall. A group poem written by the children will appear in a book to be published shortly by the poet.
Revision resources for home use provided to all year 2, 6 and 11 to support progress towards end of key stage assessments and GCSE.
Key Stage 4 Annual Conference
Provision of whole school Attachment and Trauma Training programme available for all schools.
Conferences for carers to support home learning.
Provision of online learning programme- Britannica- for all looked after children.
Contribution to staffing for the Virtual School Team.

Lancashire policy and practice on the allocation of PPG+ is communicated to schools via:

Termly newsletter posted on School Portal
Guidance to Schools on Supporting a Lancashire CLA
Designated Teacher Training and Briefings- held each term.
Termly Newsletter for Out of County Schools.
Reports to School Forum as requested.
Web site.

Early Year PP+

Pupil Premium for CLA in nursery settings, both maintained and PVI, is managed and allocated on behalf of the Virtual School Head Teacher by the Funded Nursery Education Team. Information on the use of the funding is requested on the Personal Education Plan.

Reviewed November 2023