King Edward VI Five Ways School
Scotland Lane, Bartley Green,
Birmingham, B32 4BT
Tel: 0121 475 3535
Financial Support
At King Edward VI Five Ways School we are committed to supporting all our students and mitigating the effects of social and environmental factors which might be barriers to achievement. At Five Ways our mission is to develop exceptional people through growing talent, investing in each other and caring about every person within our school community. This is why we are committed to improving the social mobility of our students who face the greatest challenges in their lives outside of school. We will support our less advantaged students so that they may achieve the same levels of academic success as everyone else.
The ‘State of the Nation’ report in 2019 suggested that there were 500, 000 more children living in poverty than in 2012. A figure that will have been made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic and recent cost of living crisis. In fact, statistics released by the Department for Education in 2022 suggested that 22.5% of pupils in England qualify for Free School Meals (FSM), with 187, 641 of those children of secondary age here in Birmingham. The figures are even higher in families from Black, Asian and Minority Ethic (BAME) communities.
Children living in these circumstances face challenges in their lives that can significantly reduce their chances of educational success, and in turn, reduce their social mobility. These barriers can include:
- Living in overcrowded housing, which might make in difficult for a student to have a private study space
- Being a young carer
- Inadequate access to the best health and emotional care
- Limited funds and family opportunities for extracurricular activities to supplement studies.
- A lack of role models with further and higher-level educational qualifications
Five Ways is committed to supporting the King Edward VI Multi Academy Trust’s vision of making Birmingham the best place to be educated, and to do this we must work to make sure that children attending our school from less advantaged backgrounds receive equitable access to opportunities and support to aid their social mobility.
At Five Ways we will make the following commitments to our less advantaged families and their children:
- We will focus our pupil premium strategy and availability of the Post-16 bursary fund to support our already highly achieving, less advantaged pupils in reaching their academic goals.
- We will continue to deliver quality first teaching to all students regardless of their vulnerabilities, and to invest in teacher development so that all children are supported within the classroom and across all subjects and key stages.
- We will use the government’s catch-up funding to further develop the support available to our less advantaged students from Year 7-13.
- We will engage with strategies and other work to narrow the attainment gap between vulnerable and less vulnerable student groups so that every child has the opportunity to reach their full potential.
- We will take a research and evidence-based approach to supporting all children and to providing appropriate interventions to aid their success
- We will follow guidance from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and The Sutton Trust in allocating our Pupil Premium budget- 50% towards quality first teaching, 25% towards small group and one-to-one individual support, and 25% on wider school strategies.
Different funding streams that are available for removing barriers to educational success here at Five Ways. For a more detailed picture of how these funds are administered, please see our policies section and pupil premium strategy statement.
Below is a short summary of the different financial support available to our learners at different stages of their education here at Five Ways.
Key contacts:
- Enquiries regarding pupil premium, uniform support and Post 16 bursary: Mrs L Heath. lc.heath@fws.kevibham.org
- Enquiries regarding bus passes and reimbursements: r.jokhia@fws.kevibham.org
EEF effective use of the Pupil Premium
Assisted Bus Passes 2024-25
If your child is eligible for an assisted bus pass from September 2024, can you please complete the attached form. It is important that you put your child’s bus pass number on the form, which starts with 6335. If you are requesting a bus pass for the first time, please put N/A in the existing bus pass number.
If your child loses their pass over the summer holidays, please contact r.jokhia@fws.kevibham.org, who will be ordering the bus passes from September.
The return to school is always a busy time, can we ask that you purchase a month’s bus pass for your child at the start of term. This will allow time to order the bus passes in September for the academic year. Please send proof of purchase to be reimbursed for the month’s pass to lc.heath@fws.kevibham.org
National Express has notified school to say that their bus passes can now be used on all bus operators in the West Midlands region, not just National Express, West Midlands services.
The Pupil Premium
The Pupil Premium
Pupil Premium (PP): funding that schools receive in addition to their central budget that is to be used to support students whose families maybe experiencing social or financial hardships up until the child completes Year 11. It is down to each school as to how to spend and allocate these funds, however at Five Ways we will follow the three part model outlined by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) – 50% towards quality first teaching, 25% towards small group and one-to-one individual support, and 25% on wider school strategies..
Who is eligible for Pupil Premium support?
Children in receipt of Free School Meals (FSM), or have been in receipt of FSM in the last 6 years.
Children of armed forces personnel where one or more parent is actively serving in the armed forces; a parent has served actively in the armed forces within the last 3 years; one of the child’s parents has died whilst serving in the armed forced and the family is in receipt of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme and the War Pensions Scheme.
Children who are in the care of the local authority
Children who have been adopted from care
You do not need to apply for your child to be eligible for the Pupil Premium. The school will automatically be notified of eligible children when data is transferred from their primary school.
Recovery premium funding
An extra amount of money to increase the amount of pupil premium money the school has to address recovery in students learning from the Covid-19 pandemic.
School-Led Tutoring fund
Schools will be given further funds to source their own tutoring provision for less advantaged and vulnerable students who have been more adversely effected by the Covid-19 pandemic than others.
Free School Meals
Free School Meals
Free School Meals (FSM) refers to money that a school receives to provide one meal to each eligible child per day while they are in education. This is separate to the pupil premium and Post-16 bursary. At Five ways we ask families to check their eligibility through Birmingham City Council by clicking the following link to means test financial circumstances:
https://www.cloudforedu.org.uk/ofsm/birmingham
School will be automatically be notified of the status of your application and will credit the students lunch account with £2.65 per day if a successful application is made. It should be noted this money does not role over to the next day if it isn’t spent.
All children eligible for FSM will automatically be eligible for the Pupil Premium.
The Post-16 student bursary
The Post-16 student bursary
Pupil Premium funding does not carry through to Post 16 study at any institution. The Post-16 bursary is a fund that allows students to access financial support for materials to advance their A Level studies. The administration of this fund is regulated by the Education, skills and Funding Agency (EFSA). Under this guidance we are obliged to provide different levels of financial support to students that reflects their families’ economic position.
Families can still claim for FSM in addition to bursary support by completing a means testing assessment at the following address: https://www.cloudforedu.org.uk/ofsm/birmingham
When a student starts their studies in Year 12 a new application for FSM must be made regardless of eligibility in Year 11, or previous school.
Year 12 & 13 2023/24
As you will be aware changes have been brought in to the 16-19 bursary that restrict what the funds can be used for. If you were eligible for bursary in year 12 you will continue to be eligible in Year 13. You do not need to do anything extra to apply.
When you wish to make a bursary claim, you will need to fill out the Year 13 bursary claim form’, either electronically or by hand, and return it to Mrs Heath at main school reception. Alternatively you can email it to her: lcheath@fws.kevibham.org
Mrs Heath will approve your purchase and where possible will order items in to school for you to collect. DO NOT MAKE purchases prior to them being authorised as they may be denied and you may not be reimbursed for the money you have spent.
You can find the claim form here, and hard copies will be available from main school reception and the Sixth Form office.
Claims can be made for the following items and under the following conditions that are in line with the Education Skills and Funding Agency guidelines:
£297 contribution to travel costs for a WM or Nbus bus pass.
To support the purchase of a laptop for use while you are a student at King Edward VI Five Ways. This will be purchased by the school and issued to you after signing a service agreement. The laptop will have appropriate software installed and must be returned to school upon completion of your studies, or for servicing when requested.
To cover the cost of the UCAS application fee, any admissions tests such as UKAT/BMAT/LNAT and their associated practice materials.
Travel to and from university open days
For payment towards summer schools, access schemes, masterclasses and specialist lectures
Books/other school equipment such as scientific calculators, lab coats, and protective goggles etc.
Stationary such as folders, pens, pencils etc. which will be sourced from the school shop
Towards curriculum visits, i.e. the geography field trip where attendance is a compulsory factor associated with the course.
You can request an amount be put towards schools meals- this is for applicants who do not already qualify for free school meals.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact School.
Post 16 Bursary Access Letter
Post-16 tuition catch-up fund.
Money awarded to Five Ways Sixth Form to support the extra tuition of students from the most deprived 25% of postcodes nationally. This money can only be spent to provide extra tutoring to students studying their A Levels at Five Ways. This support can come from their own class teachers, or from external agencies. Tuition must take place in groups of no more than 6 students.