Pupil Premium is funding that is received by schools that is ‘earmarked’ within the school budget. This means that it is an allocation that is intended for a specific purpose. The Government believes that Pupil Premium is “the best way to address current underlying inequalities between children eligible for free school meals (FSM) and their wealthier peers by ensuring that funding to tackle disadvantage reaches the pupils who need it most”. (Department for Education website).
The main aim is to increase attainment and aspiration for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, specifically to:
Click the button below for our Pupil Premium Strategy Statement.
2. How many pupils are currently eligible for Pupil Premium?
Currently, there are 57 Year 7 – 11 pupils who are eligible for Pupil Premium funding.
4. What does school data on the performance of Pupil Premium pupils show of their achievement?
Our most recent school data for 2018, which is sourced from the Ofsted Inspection Data Dashboard shown that disadvantaged pupils made progress that was at least equal to and in some cases above that of all pupils. Of particular note: In terms of overall progress, indicated with Progress 8, disadvantaged pupils were in the top quintile (20%). They were also in the top 20% in the main curriculum components including: English, Maths, English Baccalaureate group, Humanities and Science. Disadvantaged pupils were also in the top quintile for progress in the open section which includes nonebacc subjects such as Art, Music and Business.
In 2018, the Average Point Score (APS) for disadvantaged pupils was 6.1 which was the same as for all pupils. This was above the national APS of 4.0 The graphs below show both the attainment and the progress of disadvantaged pupils over time. It is clear from this that up to and including 2018 both the attainment and the progress of disadvantaged pupils had improved and in both cases had risen above the attainment and progress of non-disadvantaged pupils.
5. What are the school priorities in the area of Pupil Premium to ensure that gaps in underachievement are removed?
Our focus is to continue to target both academic underachievement as well as monitoring emotional well-being. We believe that for many of our most vulnerable students this multilayered approach is the best way to support them. In 2018 / 2019 a new Homework Club was set up to target support for disadvantaged pupils and there is clear evidence of the positive impact of this.
Through the School Self-Evaluation Form and current research into effective use of Pupil Premium Funding, we plan to continue with the intervention strategies currently in place but to also focus on developing our Sixth Form Mentoring scheme and systematically tracking in involvement of all pupils in the extra-curricular life of the school. Within the small disadvantaged cohort individual pupil needs vary from individual to individual. By targeting these needs at an early stage and by providing one to one support wherever required we feel that we can have an impact on pupil achievement.
