The Pupil Premium was introduced in April 2011 and is paid to schools in addition to the main school budget. It is a per-student payment and was introduced to address the perceived inequalities between children who are currently eligible for free school meals (FSM), have been eligible for FSM at any point in the last 6 years (Ever 6), children looked after by the local authority (CLA) and children from service families.
Use of the funding is at the school’s discretion and is monitored by the Headteacher and Governors. The funding supports our work with PP students in a systematic way, with careful prioritisation and due attention to students’ specific and often individual needs. We actively identify all eligible students so that staff know exactly who they are and what their needs are. Each member of staff is responsible for his / her group of PP students’ progress and this is reflected in each department development plan. Data is used to agree strategies and review their impact carefully. PP data is scrutinised, twice a term, at whole school level and departmental level.
We are an inclusive school and at times, the provision on offer may benefit a wider group of students; it is important that support is fully integrated into the school’s systems and may be accessed by a large number of students. Some of the funding was used to recruit staff to posts that are crucial to the well-being and happiness of all our students and most specifically those who have the greatest needs.
The school development plan for 2017/18 incorporated specific interventions both at KS3 and KS4 with a strong focus on mathematics and English. In 2019 the Year 11 cohort of 181 students had 39 PP students of which 23 were classified as disadvantaged.
The strategies used are not solely focussed in Year 11, but were across all year groups with the most successful strategies from KS4 being expanded into KS3r. The raising standards leader at KS3 coordinates KS3 PP progress, Year 7 Catch Up and feeder school transition.
For 2018/19 the school set itself a challenging target of halving the gap between PP students and non PP students and was highly successful in achieving this. Through self evaluation of the interventions used the school is now refining the strategies for the 2019/20 cohort.
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019* | |||||||
| PP | Non PP | Gap | PP | Non PP | Gap | PP | Non PP | >Gap | |
| Number of students | 29 | 129 | – | 22 | 120 | – | 39 | 142 | – |
| 9-4% in English and Mathematics | 59 | 67 | -8 | 41 | 69.5 | -18 | 60 | 68 | -8 |
| 9-4% in English | 76 | 78 | -2 | 68 | 79 | -11 | 73 | 78 | -5 |
| 9-4% in Mathematics | 67 | 71 | -4 | 60 | 78 | -18 | 65 | 74 | -9 |
| Total Attainment 8 | 41.52 | 45.17 | -3.6 | 37.55 | 47.90 | -10.35 | 41.09 | 46.08 | -4.99 |
| Average Total Progress 8 | -0.47 | -0.26 | -0.21 | -0.69 | -0.18 | -0.51 | – | – | – |
| % Achieving the E-BACC | 24 | 24 | 0 | 4 | 25 | -21 | 8 | 19 | -11 |
*Provisional
2019 to 2020
The school is committed to continuing to raise the attainment and rate of progress of all Pupil Premium students and closing the attainment gap further between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students. To achieve this the school identifies individual barriers to learning. Through self-evaluation in 2019 a summary of actions for 2019 to 2020 are outlined below:
1. To ensure that interventions in core subjects continue with specific support for mathematics.
2. To monitor the progress of PP students in open slot subjects and intervene with a package of support as required.
The impact of the Pupil Premium strategy is reviewed fortnightly by the Raising Attainment Panel (RAP), half termly by the Senior Leadership Team, annually by the Governors (Staff and Student Support Committee) and reviewed through the school self evaluation process in July-September 2020.
Associated actions and costs are presented in the Pupil Premium – Summary plan, please see link below.
Pupil Premium Plan 2019-2020
Evaluation 2018 to 2019
The school is committed to continuing to raise the attainment and rate of progress of all Pupil Premium students and closing the attainment gap further between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students. To achieve this the school identifies individual barriers to learning.
Through self-evaluation in 2018 two immediate barriers to learning were identified. These form part of the actions for 2018 to 2019 and are outlined below:
1. To ensure first wave teaching meets the needs of Pupil Premium students. Impact will be measured through analysis of data comparing the difference in progress and attainment of Pupil Premium and non-Pupil Premium students at each assessment point, six times a year.
2. To ensure that Pupil Premium students have at least good attendance (96%). Pupil Premium attendance is tracked fortnightly with the pastoral team monitoring effectiveness of interventions.
The impact of the Pupil Premium strategy is reviewed fortnightly by the Raising Attainment Panel (RAP), half termly by the Senior Leadership Team, annually by the Governors (Staff and Student Support Committee) and reviewed through the school self evaluation process in July-September 2019.
The evaluation of the 2018-19 impact review and can be found in section two of the document using the link below. Whilst the table above shows the significant impact of the strategies used leading the school to achieve the target of halving the the pupil premium gap.
