Pupil Premuim

Statement of intent 

We work together as a team, of both staff and pupils, to develop good, well-rounded people

We support all pupils to attend school and support families to try and remove barriers to attendance

We believe in the capability of our pupils to achieve the highest levels both inside and outside the classroom

We support our pupils who have barriers to learning, including SEND and Literacy, through robust interventions and monitoring

We use any funding and educational strategies available to us to try to remove barriers to success for our pupils as we believe that social and financial disadvantages should not be an obstacle to our young people's life opportunities

We are proud of our pupils and support every pupil to believe in themselves and their potential to achieve

We encourage our pupils to take pride in their achievements and to hold high expectations for their futures

We support our pupils in developing the skills and opportunities required to access their chosen Post-16 route

'The Best in Everyone'

Challenges 

This details the key challenges to achievement that we have identified among our disadvantaged pupils. 

This explains the outcomes we are aiming for by the end of our current strategy plan, and how we will measure whether they have been achieved. 

This details how we intend to spend our pupil premium (and recovery premium funding) this academic year to address the challenges listed above.

Teaching (for example, CPD, recruitment and retention) 

Budgeted cost: £103,526 

Budgeted cost: £41,431 

Budgeted cost: £ 82,801

Total budgeted cost: £ 227,758

For information on free school meals and eligibility, please click here

Outcomes for disadvantaged pupils

We have analysed the performance of our school’s disadvantaged pupils during the 2023 – 24 academic year. We have used a wide range of data, including national assessment data, our own internal assessment data, and our attendance data. We have also considered wider sources of information regarding more qualitative measures, and to help us understand the impact of our strategies.

Attainment at Key Stage 4

In the 2023 – 24 academic year we continued to invest in our teaching staff and their professional development. We designed and launched a school-wide teaching model, and we invested in the recruitment of proven, experienced teachers. We were also able to increasingly draw on and benefit from the support, guidance and resources of United Learning Trust. All these elements combined to improve classroom standards and the consistency in our teaching.

It goes without saying that some of our headline data sits well below our ultimate aspirations for our pupils, but our 2023 – 24 pupil premium cohort included a significant proportion of complex learners. The improvements in teaching standards impacted most strongly on those pupils who were able to access our curriculum consistently. For these pupils we saw positive trends in the attainment data for our pupil premium cohort at 7+ in English, Maths, Science and History. We saw our most significant gains at 5+ in Maths and Combined Science, and in a range of subjects with smaller cohorts: French, Art, Food and Health and Social Care.

Destinations at the end of Key Stage 4

Our pupils’ academic attainment leads them to their respective destinations at the end of Year 11. In 2023 – 24 we continued to invest resources into the support for pupils in Year 11 as they planned for their next steps. We have particularly focussed on encouraging a greater proportion of our pupils to pursue a level 3 pathway. In reality, while the end of key stage 4 provides the ultimate measure of our success in this strand of our strategy, much of the activity is focussed on pupils in the lower years. Pupils enjoyed opportunities to engage with a range of future pathways, including a number of universities. The table below shows the destinations of our pupil premium cohort for 2023 – 24:

Attendance to school

In 2023 – 24 we continued to focus on improving the attendance of all pupils, but especially those with additional potential vulnerabilities, such as socio-economic disadvantage. Our evaluation of key stage 4 outcomes strongly indicated that pupils who consistently accessed our curriculum achieved at significantly higher than their peers with lower attendance.

New leaders implemented a broad-ranging and multi-layered attendance strategy which impacted positively upon our Pupil Premium attendance. Some strategies were firmly focussed on the day-to-day management of attendance, whilst others represent a much longer-term investment in securing a greater level of commitment and sense of belonging from some of our most vulnerable pupils. Disadvantaged boys’ attendance increased by 1.0% and girls’ by 0.4%. Once again, we are determined to build on this position, with many of our current strategies being in their infancy.

Planning for 2024 – 27

New leaders have reviewed our pupil premium strategy and set out a new plan for the next three academic years, which is detailed in the sections above this text. Attendance and attainment remain as key foci, but with the development of our pupils' literacy joining them as one of our headline strands. Many of the activities outlined above had started to take shape in 2023 – 24, and early indications are that as our strategies develop they are already gaining more traction in 2024 – 25.