Pupil Premium
PUPIL PREMIUM – 2016/17
What is the Pupil Premium?
The Pupil Premium is additional funding given by the Government to schools so that they can support their disadvantaged students and close the attainment gap between them and their peers.
Pupil Premium was introduced in April 2011 and is allocated to schools to work specifically with pupils who have been registered for free school meals at any point in the last six years.
Schools also receive additional funding for students:
- who are Looked After (LAC)
- who have parents in the Forces (Forces Children)
- who are adopted from care
- who joined us in Y7 and had not gained National Curriculum Level 4 at the end of KS2 in either mathematics or English reading. Strategies are put in place to help them to ‘catch up’. This is known as the Year 7 Catch Up Premium.
What is Pupil Premium for?
The government believes that the Pupil Premium is the best way to address inequalities. It is to ensure that pupils who might have experienced economic disadvantage in their families are NOT disadvantaged in their education. The funding should be used to reduce any disadvantage by funding opportunities and resources to support the learning and wellbeing of those pupils.
How much funding has Buxton Community School received and how is it spent?
The allocation in April 2016 for pupils eligible for Pupil Premium funding was £935 per pupil.
Last year the funding for Buxton Community School was £212,000.
The Pupil Premium funding is being used to develop structures and strategies to help raise achievement levels and improve progress across the curriculum Our key objective in using pupil premium funding is to narrow the gap between pupil groups. Historically, levels of attainments are lower for students eligible for funding (the national trend showed a 27% gap in attainment of %A* - C including English and maths between non- disadvantaged and disadvantaged students). Buxton Community School is committed to improving the achievement of students entitled to pupil premium support.
Buxton Community School is using the funding in the following ways:
1. Closing the gap:
To ensure there are effective intervention strategies in place for students eligible for pupil premium which will ensure they can achieve expected progress when compared to their peers in maths and English both in KS3 and KS4.
For some students to achieve their best, they need extra support with their learning. A number of strategies have been introduced to provide this:
ASPIRE
- Closing the gap in literacy and numeracy is a key focus. From tracking data, the Director of Intervention is able to identify disadvantaged students across the school with gaps in their attainment and deploys a team of CTG (closing the gap) teachers to work with these students on a one to one basis within ASPIRE and focus on their identified weaknesses.
- The ASPIRE team are also supporting some of our more vulnerable disadvantaged students who have or are experiencing very difficult circumstances in their lives. Support for these students is given in a whole range of ways from helping them keep on track with course work to liaising with external multi-agency support services. Careful collaboration exists between the Intervention Team and our Pastoral Teams and SEND Department.
- Working along side the Local Authority Virtual School Attachment Aware Project; ASPIRE is also leading on INSET with our staff on understanding the difficulties children face when they have ‘Attachment issues’. Our teachers are being equipped with the knowledge and skills on how best to work with these children. Part of this has also involved some of our more vulnerable and/or challenging students working with the High Peak Community Arts Project.
GATEWAY
This is a slightly different facility which has been introduced into the school. Some students find mainstream school difficult and this sometimes manifests into more challenging behaviour. Gateway provides an alternative environment where work can be done to modify behaviour, raise self esteem, work on life skills and experiences. Students who access this provision have a bespoke curriculum designed for them which includes time in Gateway, positive behaviour support, supported mainstream lessons and also outreach support.
CLOSING THE GAP within the classroom
- Departments and individual subject staff have a specific focus to ensure they implement classroom strategies which will impact on the learning and progress of our disadvantaged students.
- The school has introduced ‘Mint-class’ seating plan software to assist this focus.
- The move to tracking four times a year, the development of more rigorous analysis of SISRA data, more focus on the progress of disadvantaged students through lesson observations and work scrutiny is enabling staff to identify weaknesses much earlier and apply appropriate interventions.
- There has been a specific focus on Teaching and Learning strategies to stretch and challenge all our students including out disadvantaged students. Examples include the ‘Marking and Feedback’ policy, questioning techniques and differentiated learning opportunities.
- This year additional staffing in maths and English allows for smaller groups and targeted intervention.
- 1 to 1 tuition and small group support has continued. This has been specifically in English, maths and reading schemes.
- There are a team of ‘Assertive Mentors’ working individually with identified pupils at KS4
- Departments provide a range of extra-curricular catch up sessions and homework clubs
- Revision programmes and support with revision materials/guides are provided by departments.
- For some young people to achieve, they need a range of broader experiences than the school curriculum can provide. We employ a specialist member of staff to plan and monitor work experience and we ‘buy in’ provision from Further Education and the wider community to meet the needs of individual.
- Departments have the opportunity to bid into pupil premium funding to pay for additional support which will impact on the progress of disadvantaged students in their classes. Requests have included for example: the purchase of revision/study guides, additional music lessons, support with uniform, loan of a lap top to complete coursework at home, enabling students to access field trips, theatre visits, climbing weekends to complete GCSE requirements etc.
2. Engagement, motivation and support:
For young people to achieve their best, they need to feel safe and happy. We are proud of the pastoral care available to our students.
- Our Pastoral Structure which began in September 2015 has meant there is a specified Pastoral Manager for each year group in addition to the KS3 and KS4 Directors of Progress and attached Senior Staff.
- There is the Intervention Team within ASPIRE and GATEWAY.
- We employ a full time counsellor which enables us to support the emotional needs of students at risk of underachievement.
- Early in Year 7, our school counsellor runs a series of Nurture Groups for those pupils who need additional support. There is also the Peer Mentor Scheme which supports our students.
- The school is committed to providing support with items such as uniform, stationary, revision packs when this is needed.
- Pupils eligible for pupil premium funding are also supported and subsidised in educational visits and extra-curricular learning.