Pupil Premium Strategy
What is Pupil Premium?
The purpose of this premium is to narrow the attainment gap between pupils from low income families and others. Schools receive funding based on the number of pupils who have received Free School Meals in the last six years; the number who are Looked After (in care) and the number who belong to service families. Schools have the freedom to spend this funding as they see fit based upon their knowledge of pupil needs.
Our Pupil Premium Strategy intention is that all pupils, irrespective of their background or the challenges they face, make good progress and achieve highly across all subject areas. The focus of our pupil premium strategy is to sup-port disadvantaged pupils to achieve that goal, including progress for those who are already high at-tainers.
We will also consider the challenges faced by vulnerable pupils, such as those who have a social worker and young carers. We are part of the ‘Raising Achievement in Disadvantaged Youngsters (RADY) strat-egy which runs as a ‘golden thread’ through our School Strategic Development Plan. See Files to Download.
To achieve this, we remain dedicated to incorporating the latest research from the Education Endowment Foundation and implementing the 3-tiered approach to spending as detailed below.
Teaching
The best available evidence indicates that great teaching is the most important lever schools have to improve outcomes for their pupils.
• High quality teaching for all
• High quality assessments and a curriculum which responds to the needs of pupils
• Professional development
• Mentoring and coaching
• Resources focused on supporting high quality teaching and learning
Targeted academic support
Evidence indicates that small group and one-to-one interventions can be a powerful tool for supporting pupils. High-quality teaching should reduce the need for extra support, but it is likely that some pupils will require high quality, structured, targeted interventions to make progress.
• High quality one to one and small group intervention led by class teachers
• Immediate phonic intervention led by class teachers
• Planning for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities
Wider strategies
Wider strategies relate to the most significant non-academic barriers to success in school. Enrichment and support can help disadvantaged pupils overcome the barriers they may face in their wider lives when compared to other children.
• Supporting pupils’ social, emotional and behavioural needs
• Supporting high levels of attendance and punctuality
• Communicating with and supporting parents/carers
• Providing opportunities to take part in all wider learning including trips and residential visits.
To ensure these strategies are effective we will:
• ensure disadvantaged pupils are challenged in the work that they’re set
• act early to intervene at the point need is identified
• adopt a whole school approach in which all staff take responsibility for disadvantaged pupils’ outcomes and raise expectations of what they can achieve
At the core of our approach is a commitment to high quality teaching, strategically tailored to address the specific needs of disadvantaged pupils. This targeted focus not only proves instrumental in narrow-ing the attainment gap associated with disadvantage but also contributes positively to the academic growth of our non-disadvantaged pupils. Implicit in the intended outcomes is the intention that non-disadvantaged pupils’ attainment will be sustained and improved alongside progress for their disadvan-taged peers. Our approach is dynamic and responsive, addressing both common challenges and individual need. This is rooted in robust diagnostic assessment rather than assumptions about the impact of disadvantage. The approaches we have adopted complement eachother to help pupils excel.