Support for children previously in care

It's up to each individual school how to spend the Pupil Premium Plus grant. The DfE has clearly stated that it is good practice to consult parents and guardians when making the decision, so schools can better understand and take in to account the needs of children previously in care. For spending the Pupil Premium Plus, the conditions of grant Pupil premium: allocations and conditions of grant 2022 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) recommend planning to use it in line with the Education Endowment Foundation's (EEF's) 3-tiered approach to help schools allocate spending across the following 3 key areas:

• support high-quality teaching, such as staff professional development
• provide targeted academic support, such as tutoring, including through the National Tutoring Programme (NTP)
• tackle non-academic barriers to academic success, such as difficulties with attendance, behaviour and social and emotional wellbeing

For previously in care, it is the responsibility of the academy to ensure that their use of the funding addresses the specific needs of the pupils attending the setting or school. The money is not ring fenced and does not have to be spent on the individual child. The DfE has included this flexibility so that schools can get maximum impact from the funding and so that children who change schools are not disadvantaged.

The  Using pupil premium: guidance for school leaders (publishing.service.gov.uk) gives information for how school leaders can use their pupil premium funding effectively, complete their strategy statement and information about pupil premium payments. 

Where necessary, the designated teacher may seek the advice of the Virtual School about meeting the needs of individual children with the agreement of the child's parents or guardians.