At Sidlesham Primary School, our purpose is clear: to secure the very best life chances for every child through an inspiring, high-quality education.

We use our Pupil Premium funding to ensure that all pupils, regardless of background, achieve highly and fully participate in school life.

We know that some pupils face additional barriers to learning due to disadvantage. At Sidlesham, we identify these barriers early and act quickly to remove them.

This work reflects our school values of Ambition, Confidence and Kindness.

Our Key Priority

Our current strategy has a clear and focused priority:

Ensuring disadvantaged pupils attend school regularly and are ready to learn.

We know that attendance is the single biggest factor in improving outcomes. Without being in school consistently, pupils cannot benefit fully from teaching or additional support.

This is why improving attendance is at the heart of our strategy.

The Barriers our Pupils Face

Through careful analysis, we have identified the main barriers faced by disadvantaged pupils at Sidlesham:

• Significantly lower attendance and higher levels of persistent absence

• Gaps in reading, writing and mathematics

• Higher levels of social, emotional and mental health need

• Lower starting points in language and vocabulary

• Reduced access to wider experiences and enrichment

Our strategy is designed to directly address these barriers.

What we do

We use our Pupil Premium funding in three key ways:

High-quality teaching for all

• Consistent, high-quality classroom teaching

• Strong phonics provision through Read Write Inc.

• Focus on vocabulary and language across the curriculum

Targeted academic support

• Small group and one-to-one tutoring

• Reading and phonics interventions

• Maths fluency support through Number Sense

Wider support to remove barriers

• A dedicated Family Worker supporting attendance, wellbeing and families

• Daily attendance monitoring and personalised support

• Breakfast club provision

• SEMH support and mentoring

• Funding for trips, clubs and wider experiences

Supporting Families

We work closely with families to ensure every child can succeed.

Our Family Worker, Miss JC, provides:

• Support with attendance and routines

• Help for families experiencing challenges

• Links to external services

• Regular communication and guidance

If you would like support, please contact the school office or Miss JC directly.

Impact

Our strategy is regularly reviewed by school leaders and governors. We use attendance data, behaviour records and assessment information to evaluate the impact of our strategy and adapt our approach where needed.

Recent strengths include:

• Strong outcomes in early reading and phonics

• Positive progress in mathematics

• Improved engagement for targeted pupils

Our key focus moving forward is improving attendance, as this remains the main barrier to further success.

Further Information

You can find full details of our Pupil Premium strategy, including spending and impact, in the documents below:

• Pupil Premium Strategy Statement (2025–2028)

• Previous Pupil Premium Strategy Statement

If you have any questions about Pupil Premium or eligibility for free school meals, please contact the school office.

Parents can also check eligibility at: West Sussex Free School Meals

Further information on Pupil Premium can be found here.