Pupil Premium

What is the Pupil Premium grant?

Pupil Premium grant is additional funding allocated to schools by the Government for 2 separate objectives:

• raising the educational attainment of disadvantaged pupils of all abilities to help them reach their potential
• providing support for children and young people with parents in the regular armed forces

Funding is based on the number of pupils on roll recorded as:

• eligible for Targeted free school meals (Targeted FSM) - currently households receiving Universal Credit below the £7,400 threshold or recorded as eligible for Targeted FSM in the past 6 years (Targeted FSM Ever 6), and eligible children of families who have no recourse to public funds (NRPF)
• previously looked-after children (PLAC): pupils who were looked after by a local authority or other state care immediately before being adopted, or who left local authority or other state care on a special guardianship order or child arrangements order.
• Services children (SC) with one parent in the regular armed forces, registered as a ‘service child’ on the school census in the past 6 years or where one parent has died whilst serving in the armed forces.

PP grant funding is also allocated directly to the local authority for the number of pupils on roll recorded as:

• looked-after children (LAC) supported by the authority. It is for the local authority Virtual School Head to decide how much of this funding to pass on to the child’s school.

The portion of PP grant funding for LAC and PLAC pupils is referred to as ‘pupil premium plus’ (PP+). The portion of PP grant funding for SC pupils is referred to as ‘service pupil premium’ (SPP).

How should schools use the Pupil Premium grant funding?

Pupil premium is not a personal budget for individual pupils, and schools do not have to spend pupil premium so that it solely benefits eligible pupils. Schools may use a portion of PP grant funding to support pupils who do not meet any of the PP grant eligibility criteria above where they deem it beneficial to do so. For example, PP grant can be used to support other pupils with identified needs, such as pupils who have or have had a social worker, or pupils who act as a carer. It can also be used for whole class approaches, for example high-quality teaching, which will also benefit non-disadvantaged pupils.

To ensure PP grant is focused on effective approaches to raising the educational attainment of eligible pupils, schools must use their PP grant in line with the ‘menu of approaches’ set by the Department for Education (DfE) developed in line with the Education Endowment Foundation’s (EEF’s) 3-tiered approach to help schools allocate spending across the following 3 key areas:

In line with the EEF’s recommended approach, schools should particularly prioritise funding to high-quality teaching, and reading and maths - which are the cornerstones of a broad, academic, knowledge-rich curriculum. Schools publish their Pupil Premium strategy statement annually by 31 December. In line with the EEF’s recommended approach, schools should particularly prioritise funding to high-quality teaching, and reading and maths - which are the cornerstones of a broad, academic, knowledge-rich curriculum. Schools publish their Pupil Premium strategy statement annually by 31 December.

Current Pupil Premium Strategy

For LAC, it is the responsibility of the local authority Virtual School Head, in consultation with the child’s school, to ensure that PP grant is used to support the child’s educational needs, in accordance with their personal education plans.The primary purpose of SPP is to enable schools to offer pastoral support to eligible pupils during challenging times and to help mitigate the negative impact of family mobility or parental deployment on service children. It can be used to help improve the academic progress if schools deem this to be a priority.

Further Pupil Premium information is available here: Pupil premium: overview - GOV.UK

How can I get support for my child?

Free Schools Meals are changing from September 2026.

Free school meals (FSM) are vital for qualifying households because they improve health, boost learning and improve outcomes for children, and from September 2026 the UK Government are expanding access to free school meals by widening eligibility to all households receiving Universal Credit above the current £7,400 income cap.

To support this, Cornwall Council are starting a new way to help more children get free school meals. From the 2026/27 school year, they will use information they already have to find families who may qualify called the Auto Award Process.

This means some families will not need to apply. Cornwall Council will check if children in your household are eligible automatically, unless you choose to opt out of this checking process.

Data Cornwall Council will use to identify potentially eligible households includes:

• current FSM claimants
• households receiving Housing Benefit from Cornwall Council
• households Council Tax support from Cornwall Council

Where households are identified as potentially eligible:

• Parents/carers will be contacted directly by Cornwall Council to advise that they intend to run an eligibility check with a two-week period to opt out.
• if no optout is received, eligibility checks will be completed
• Eligible children will be automatically registered for FSM and their families will be notified by 1 August 2026.

Families who are not identified by this process will need to apply for free school meals via a Parent Portal (click this link). If you have not heard from Cornwall Council by 1 August 2026 please contact them directly on 01872 324295 or by email schoolmeals@cornwall.gov.uk

All existing claims will be rechecked each academic year, with further checks taking place each term to identify newly eligible children. Once approved, your child will get FSM for the rest of that school year, even if circumstances change. Free school meal entitlement will no longer be ‘protected’ for 5 years once awarded, instead, eligibility will be checked ready for the start of each new school year. Households can apply at any time should their circumstances change.

From September 2026 there will be two tiers of support:

• Targeted Free School Meals (Targeted FSM); your household has met the Universal Credit household income threshold (under £7400). Your children will be entitled to a free school meal, a free code to access the Time2Move Holiday Programme during the relevant school holidays (Easter, Summer and Christmas) and the school will receive Pupil Premium funding.
• Expanded Free School Meals (Expanded FSM); your household has met the Universal Credit household income threshold (above £7400). Your children will only be entitled to a free school meal only. Your child/ren will not qualify for a free Time2Move Holiday code to access the T2M Holiday Programme and the school will not receive additional Pupil Premium funding.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs) can be found on the webpage in the link below.

Free School Meals Update for Schools (2026/2027 Academic Year) Cornwall Services for Schools
Please email Mrs King on jking@redruth.cornwall.sch.uk if you have any questions regarding the new Free School Meal Auto Award process or Pupil Premium funding.

Re-Loved Uniform Shop:

We have limited stock of pre-loved uniform items for sale or swap, priced based on suggested donation. Donations of second hand uniform are always welcomed.

There is a Redruth re-loved event at the end of every school term, plus an additional Prom re-loved event once a year.

If you would like to view our pre-loved stock between these events, the Re-Loved shop is open every Friday 2pm to 3.30pm or please contact enquiries@redruth.cornwall.sch.uk to make an appointment outside of these times.

Funding for new uniform, school equipment or trips:

An allocation of £30 per pupil is reserved for students registered as Pupil Premium to support the purchase of uniform, school equipment or towards the cost of trips and visits.

If you require support with any of the above, please contact Mrs King: jking@redruth.cornwall.sch.uk or call 01209 203700.