The Department for Education (DfE) introduced SPP in April 2011 in recognition of the specific challenges children from service families face, and as part of the commitment to delivering the Armed Forces Covenant.

State schools, academies and free schools in England with children of service families (reception-age to Year 11) are eligible for SPP funding. SPP helps the school give additional support that the service child may need.

Eligibility criteria

Pupils are eligible for SPP if they meet one of the following criteria:

• one of their parents is serving in the regular armed forces (including pupils with a parent who is on full commitment as part of the full-time reserve service) or has served in the past 6 years. 
• they have been registered as a ‘service child’ on a school census in the past 6 years (see below the ‘DfE’s ever 6 service child measure’)
• one of their parents died while serving in the armed forces and the pupil receives a pension under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme or the War Pensions Scheme
• one of their parents is in the armed forces of another nation and is stationed in England

Purpose of the SPP

Eligible schools receive SPP mainly so that they can offer pastoral support during challenging times, and to help mitigate the negative impact of family mobility, separation or parental deployment on service children.

• Family mobility: when a service person is posted from one location to another, including overseas and within the UK, resulting in separation from their family or moving of the family home.
• Separation: occurs when a service person is assigned to an unaccompanied location, or the family choose to remain at home when the service person is deployed, resulting in their weekly/monthly commutes home and/or extended periods away.
• Parental deployment: when a service person is serving away from home for a period of time - this could be a 6 to 9-month tour of duty, a training course or an exercise which could last for a few weeks.

Supporting Service children at CGPS

You will see deployment QR posters around school. We ask that these are completed if you or a member of your family is weekending or deployed as this enables us to support the children during this period of time. 

CGPS works with a number of projects, including RAF Benson school, to ensure we are constantly improving the support we provide for our Service families and children. 

Each week, Mrs McDowell invites RAFTERS children to a lunchtime drop-in session where children can be with peers who may have similar lived experiences of deployment and lifestyle. The children take part in activities linked with RAF Benson and we invite parents in for a celebration tea party in the summer term. 

For more information regarding Service Pupil Premium, please contact Miss Moore via the school office.