Pupil Premium Grant +
Funding is allocated to each local authority to support educational progress for looked after children.
Children and young people from reception to year 11 are eligible for this funding. This funding is based on £2,530 per looked after child.
The Virtual School Head in the local authority administers this funding.
Statutory guidance requires the funding allocated to reflect the needs of the child or young person and there needs to be clear evidence on the use and impact of the funding. The PEP provides this evidence.
Currently, a maximum of £620 per term is available on submission of an approved PEP. The remainder of the PPG+ allocated to the local authority provides High Needs Funding (HNF) for those pupils who require additional funding for significant short-term needs, training for designated teachers and other school staff, key stage 4 annual conference for looked after children, specialist support and projects to benefit cohorts of looked after children - such as home reading packs and contribution to the Virtual School staff structure.
Independent schools who have Lancashire looked after children placed with them, usually through an EHCP or residential children's home providing in house education, do not receive a separate PPG+ payment. All needs of the pupil should be met through the funding provided to meet the EHCP / school / residential place. In exceptional circumstances, at the discretion of the Virtual School Head, some PPG+ may be allocated.
Spending the funding
The Pupil Premium Plus funding should be used to meet the specific needs of the child or young person which have been identified in the personal education plan. As well as addressing academic needs, social and emotional needs must also be considered.
This could include:
- Learning support
- Additional staff to support with individual or group work tuition
This could be 1:1, paired, small groups etc - Homework club and support
- Extra tuition or tutoring
- Music lessons and equipment
- Additional staff to support with individual or group work tuition
- Educational Resources
- Learning resources that are not expected to be funded by the fostering allowance such as:
- Textbooks
- Revision Books
- DVDs
- ICT facilities including hardware and software
- Apps
- Materials for practical based subjects
- Sensory Equipment
- Learning resources that are not expected to be funded by the fostering allowance such as:
- Emotional Health and Wellbeing
- Larger school projects which may involve several looked after children such as a garden/environmental based project
- Therapeutic interventions such as: Lego Therapy, Play Therapy, sensory or occupational therapy or buying in creative arts therapy
- Team/confidence/esteem building courses or activities
- Mentor support
- A nurture room and group
- 1:1 or small group attachment support
- Emotional literacy and emotion regulation groups, including anger management
- Providing calm boxes and staff to spend 1:1 time helping children to regulate themselves
- Providing calm zones in classrooms and centrally within the school
- Emotion coaching
- Training for staff
- Understanding the reasons for the challenges that many children face
- Attachment and Trauma
- Specific support and interventions
- Training midday supervisors to provide structured play at break times
- Appointing and training an Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA)
- understanding and supporting executive functioning skill development in the classroom and on the playground
- Emotion Coaching
- Activities
- Summer School
- Sports clubs or other activities
- After school clubs-music, sport arts, drama
- Lunchtime clubs with opportunities to practice social skills
- Spending time preparing children for change in advance e.g. using social stories or visual timetables
- Equipment for playground activities
The PAC Pupil Premium Plus guide (PDF 789 KB) has some useful ideas for additional uses of PPG+ to meet the needs the children or young people in your care.