Almost all students at the Academy are dual registered, with the main registration being their ‘home school’. We therefore do not usually receive any Pupil Premium Funding (PPF) directly *, and assume that it makes up part of the commissioning fees to the academy. The commissioning fees that the school receives are used to personalise learning through specialist teachers, mental health and pastoral support, incentives and rewards, educational visits, and other enrichment opportunities. This has helped students improve their attainment, attendance and engagement, and lead to extremely positive outcomes for all pupils, particularly in relation to their starting points.
For the 2021-2022 Academic Year, more information can be found on the Pupil Premium Report 2021-22 – The Fermain Academy
* During the 2020/2021 Academic Year, we received £467 in pupil premium funding. This funding was received directly from the ESFA and was all in relation to one pupil. This funding was used to help pay for Saturday school and holiday clubs which the pupil was able to access on several occasions. The total cost of these activities over the course of the year was circa £1,500. Activities such as recording studio time, football matches and other trips and excursions were used to help build confidence and enrich curricular learning. These opportunities are afforded to all our pupils, but especially those most vulnerable young people, and the pupil premium grant helped facilitate these experiences, greatly enriching the provision and support we can offer to young people, and helping to further build their self-confidence and independence.
In 2022-23 we expect to receive a similar amount of pupil premium funding which will be spent on more enriching activities. Due to the small amount of funding we receive, the academy essentially ‘tops up’ the funding to provide these opportunities to its students through it’s normal High Needs top up funding.