Our Philosophy:
Our School Philosophy, which is in keeping with our Christian Values, is that the school Staff, Parents and Governors will work together to make a difference. We recognise that good teaching is the most important lever schools have to improve outcomes for disadvantaged students and therefore aim to offer education which is challenging, enjoyable and knowledge rich. We will have succeeded if everyone is given the chance to achieve the best results possible, and is equipped with life skills and experience for their future.
Overcoming barriers to learning is at the heart of our PPG use. We understand that needs and costs will differ depending on the barriers to learning being addressed. As such, we do not automatically allocate personal budgets per pupil in receipt of the PPG. Instead, we use evidence informed research to make decisions on the best approaches for all of our students.
The ‘Pupil Premium’, along with all forms of school funding are carefully managed to enable us to offer personalised support for children in a range of ways and supports us in achieving our philosophy and vision.
Our priorities:
Setting priorities is key to maximising the use of the PPG. Our priorities are as follows:
- Ensuring all students have access to High Quality Teaching and Learning in every lesson
- Closing the attainment gap between disadvantaged students and their peers
- Providing targeted academic support for students who are not making the expected progress
- Addressing non-academic barriers to attainment such as attendance, behaviour, mental health and adverse childhood experiences/trauma
- Ensuring that the PPG reaches the students who need it most
Barriers to Future Attainment:
Academic barriers to attainment | Non Academic barriers to attainment |
---|---|
Low levels of literacy | Poor attendance |
Low levels of numeracy | Poor behaviour |
Low levels of oracy | Lack of parental engagement and skills to support children in their learning |
Poor language and communication | Arriving at school hungry and not ready to learn |
Social, emotional and mental health needs | Lack of focus and confidence due to poor mental health and wellbeing |
Lack of school readiness | Poor social skills and conflict resolution skills; lack of emotional literacy |
Low parental aspiration | |
Rural isolation/lack of services | |
Adverse Childhood Experiences, such as: – domestic violence – parental abandonment through separation or divorce – a parent with a mental health condition – being the victim of abuse (physical, sexual and/or emotional) – being the victim of neglect (physical and emotional) – a member of the household being in prison – growing up in a household in which there are adults experiencing alcohol and drug use problems |
Implementation:
In line with guidance from the Education Endowment Fund’s Guide to implementation, we select a small number of priorities to ensure a higher success rate in meeting the needs of our students.
We will:
Explore:
- Specify an area of focus for improvement that is amenable to change.
- Determine a programme of activity based on existing evidence of what has – and hasn’t – worked before.
- Examine the fit and feasibility of possible interventions to the school context.
Prepare:
- Develop a clear, logical and well-specified plan
- Assess the readiness of the school to deliver the plan
- Make practical preparations for the plan to be delivered
Deliver:
- Support staff and solve any problems using a flexible leadership approach
- Reinforce initial training with follow-on support
- Use data to review the delivery and inform next steps
Sustain:
- Ensure it remains fit-for-purpose
- Continually acknowledge, support and reward good implementation practices
- Treat scale-up as a new implementation process
Our tiered approach:
We ensure that appropriate provision is made for students who belong to vulnerable groups, this includes ensuring that the needs of socially disadvantaged pupils are adequately assessed and addressed.
In making provision for socially disadvantaged pupils, we recognise that not all pupils who receive free school meals will be socially disadvantaged
We also recognise that not all pupils who are socially disadvantaged are registered or qualify for free school meals. The Pupil Premium Grant therefore can be allocated to support any student or groups of students the school identifies as being socially disadvantaged.
To prioritise spending, we have adopted a tiered approach to define our priorities and ensure balance. Our tiered approach comprises three categories:
Tier 1: High Quality Teaching and Learning
- Literacy: An increase in the reading ages of students in KS3 to improve overall GCSE results in English
- Curriculum and assessment – Introducing summative/formative assessments and ensuring teachers use these wisely to help pupils embed and use knowledge fluently
- An evidence informed Continued Professional Development programme of support which develops teachers’ subject knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge
Tier 2: Targeted academic support
Structured interventions: A variety of literacy and numeracy interventions which enable children to access the full curriculum offer; A Team (nurture support); small group tuition including targeted group work in reading and writing; one-to-one support: including creating additional teaching and learning opportunities using Learning Support Assistants
Tier 3: Going the Extra Mile
- Readiness to learn: Breakfast club to provide students with breakfast before school
- Enriching the Curriculum: Subsidised residential trips for children in receipt of PPG, visits and visitors in school, extra-curricular clubs, subsidised uniform, music lessons, accelerated reader, food technology ingredients, celebration assemblies, revision materials, homework club, CIAG programme,
- Targeted pastoral intervention, including Head of Student Support (non teaching member of staff), in-house Life Skills and Nurture programme: to support students to resolve conflict; Mental Health Support: Mental Health First Aider for Adults and a Mental Health Champion for Young People; In-house mentoring programme
- Life Skills and Nurture programme: to support students to resolve conflict and manage their feelings and behaviour better
Our Review Process:
Reviewing, introducing and implementing a pupil premium plan every year could be deemed as time-costly and ineffective. A three-year approach enables interim reviews while maintaining a long-term view on intervention and impact.
During an interim review, we will review the success of each intervention, based on evidence, and determine the most effective approach moving forwards – adapting, expanding or ceasing the intervention as required, aligned to the school’s vision and intent.
The progress of pupils in receipt of the PPG is scrutinised by subject teacher, faculty staff and Senior Leaders across all year groups and all subjects at identified points in the assessment calendar. Furthermore, staff awareness of those students in receipt of the pupil premium grant enables ongoing and purposeful conversations and support regarding personal development alongside the quality of education delivered.
“Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how great an educational idea or intervention is in principle; what really matters is how it manifests itself in the day to day work of people in schools.”
(EEF, 2018)
The cycle of implementation is therefore ongoing and developed in light of the lessons learned and with regard to any new guidance and evidence of best practice that becomes available. The Head of School and Assistant Headteachers (inclusion and curriculum) are responsible for ensuring a pupil premium strategy is always in effect.
Accountability:
Ofsted inspections will report on the attainment and progress of disadvantaged pupils in receipt of the PPG. The school is held to account for the spending of the PPG through the focus in Ofsted inspections on the progress and attainment of the wider pupil premium eligible cohort; however, they will not look for evidence of the grant’s impact on individual pupils, or on precise interventions.
The school publishes its strategy for using the pupil premium on the school website.
The school publishes a link to the school and college performance tables and the schools’ performance tables page on the school website.
Covid-19 Catch up Premium Expenditure
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How we have spent our Catch up Premium grant
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