Pupil Premium

Oakdale Junior is a highly inclusive school.  All members of staff and governors are committed to meeting the pastoral, social and academic needs of all pupils in our school, to ensure every child achieves their full potential.  

The Pupil Premium is a grant given to schools to enable them to fully meet the needs of children who are considered 'socially disadvantaged'.  These are pupils  who are:

• Currently eligible for free school meals, or have been eligible at any point within the last six years

• children looked after by local authorities, referred to as looked-after children
• children previously looked after by a local authority or other state care, referred to as previously looked-after children

Pupils eligible tend to be at greater risk of underachieving and the Pupil Premium grant is given to schools for schools to ensure these children achieve as well as their peers. Oakdale Junior School is committed to narrowing the gap between vulnerable pupils and their peers, and pupil premium funding forms a vital part of that process. 

In the 2025-2026 financial year, schools will receive £1,515 for each primary aged child registered as eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years. Schools also receive £2,630 for each looked after child at their school.

Schools have a duty to report how they use Pupil Premium allocation each year. The Pupil premium strategy statement 2024-25 document shows how we spent the money last year. In December, the 2025-26 strategy will be published below. 

We have worked hard as a school to identify children that are eligible for the Pupil Premium Grant, we have currently identified 37% of the school. If you believe your child is eligible and currently isn't identified as Pupil Premium, you can scan the QR code in the leaflet to check (see below) and you will also be eligible to other benefits as well.

How to register?

Parent(s)/Carer(s) who are on one of the qualifying benefits may apply for free school meals under the ‘benefit’ based free school meals criteria. This will then enable your child’s school to access The Pupil Premium Grant. This grant must be spent by the school to help eligible pupils to reach their full potential, both academically and socially. The school decides how best to spend this. If you believe you fall into this category please contact scan the QR code or click on the link in the poster.

What happens if I meet the criteria?

In addition to receiving daily free school meals, we are also delighted to offer all Pupil premium recipients a £30 Arbor credit. This credit is available to all eligible families and can be applied to any payments made via Arbor throughout the current academic year—including trips, school clubs, music lessons and other school-related costs. If you would like to use the credit, please email the school office and indicate what you would like to spend it on. More information can be found on our information leaflet below. 

If you have any questions or need assistance accessing or using your credit, please don’t hesitate to contact the school office.