Children in state-funded education in England who were adopted from care in England and Wales, or who left care under a Special Guardianship Order or Child Arrangements Order / Residence Order are eligible to attract the pupil premium. This includes children in alternative provision (such as an independent school or educated at home) where the place or provision is funded by the local authority.
The pupil premium gives schools and other providers of education extra funding to provide additional support where necessary to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. It is paid to schools and other providers of education for eligible children in Reception Year through to Year 11. Adopted children (and other post-looked after children) attract the pupil premium because many will have suffered trauma and abuse in their early years and the emotional impact of this may act as a barrier to their progress at school.
To enable your child’s school to claim the pupil premium, you will need to inform the school about your child and provide supporting evidence, for example, show the school the original Adoption (Court) Order. You will need to self-declare before 21 January 2016 which is the date schools complete the Spring School Census and local authorities complete the Alternative Provision Census. This will then trigger the payment of the pupil premium to the school /education provider from April 2016.
If you informed the school of your child’s adopted status for the January 2015 School Census, it should not be necessary to provide evidence again. You are, however, advised to double check with the school before 21 January. If your child has moved schools, you will be required to provide evidence again as information is not transferable from one school to another.
