Thomas Gamuel Primary School - Pupil and Sport Premium

Introduced in 2011, the Pupil Premium Grant (PPG) is additional government money given to publicly funded schools in England to help disadvantaged young people do well at school and narrow the gap, both in school and nationally, between them and their peers.

Research shows that students who are entitled to Pupil Premium face challenges such as poor language and communication skills, less family support, lack of confidence, and issues with attendance and punctuality.

The funding is allocated to schools for students from Reception to Year 11 who have registered for free school meals in the last six years, and young people who are in care or have parents in the Armed Forces

Schools are free to choose how to spend their Pupil Premium money. This may include funding extra classroom support, maths and literacy catch-up sessions, educational trips, music lessons or a breakfast club, speech and language or family therapy, or learning resources.

For a detailed breakdown of how Thomas Gamuel’s Pupil Premium was spent and its impact on the lives and education of students, click on the links below:

The Sport Premium Grant (SPG)

At Thomas Gamuel Primary School we believe that sports and PE are important and have the potential to change our children's lives for the better. Every year, since 2013, we have received a government grant – the Sport Premium. This money can only be used by schools to fund additional and sustainable improvements to PE and sport provision for the benefit of primary aged pupils, to encourage the development of healthy, active lifestyles. Schools, however, have the freedom to choose how they do this. Possible uses for the funding include:

hiring specialist PE teachers or qualified sports coaches to work alongside primary teachers when teaching PE
new or additional Change4Life sport clubs
paying for professional development opportunities in PE/sport
providing cover to release primary teachers for professional development in PE/sport
running sports competitions, or increasing participation in the school games
buying quality assured professional development modules or materials for PE/sport
providing places for focus pupils on after-school sports and holiday clubs.

For the academic year 2024-25,Thomas Gamuel Primary School has been allocated a Sport Premium Grant of £18,730. Allocations for the year are calculated using the number of pupils in Years 1 to 6, as recorded in the January 2025 census:

schools with 17 or more pupils receive £16,000 plus £10 per pupil
schools with 16 or fewer pupils receive £1,000 per pupil

How is the money being spent?

Thomas Gamuel has joined the Waltham Forest Schools Sports Network, which organises inter-school sports competitions and events. This year, many more of our pupils will be taking part in competitive sports against other schools.

Specialist sports coaches, for example, for netball and hockey, have been employed to run additional PE sessions and introduce children to new sports they might not otherwise have played.

The school also aims to provide 10 sports clubs each term, including football, cricket, dance, netball and basketball. All of these clubs are free and funded from the Sport Premium Grant.

Pupils acquire basic reading skills well. This includes pupils who speak English as an additional language

Ofsted report, October 2016