Ullswater Community College

Pupil Premium Strategy Statement

2016

Pupil premium strategy statement: Ullswater Community College

Over the last few years results at Key Stage 4 for pupils eligible for Pupil Premium funding have shown year on year improvement. The gap between pupils eligible for PP funding and pupils not eligible has shown a reduction from 29% to 16% on 5+A*CEM measures. This gap is one of the lowest in Cumbrian Secondary Schools.

2014 5+A*-C E/m A*-C in English A*-C in mathematics

Non Pupil Premium 66% 77% 77%

Pupil Premium 37% 56% 41%

Gap -29% Gap -21% Gap-37%

2015 Non Pupil Premium 63% 85% 75%

Pupil Premium 36% 68% 50%

Gap -27% Gap -17% Gap -25%

2016 Whole Cohort 59.5% 5+A*-C E/m 75.2% 69.5%

Pupil Premium 43.2% 61.4% 52.3%

Gap 16.3% Gap -13.8% Gap -17.2%

The difference however is still negative and the school has developed a range of new initiatives to try to reduce this gap further.

Overall 58.1% of pupils eligible for pupil premium funding achieve expected levels of progress in mathematics at KS4 and 64.3% of these pupils achieve expected levels of progress in English. These levels of progress are above average when compared to the National figures. 50% of these pupils achieve A*-C grades in English & mathematics. Once again this is above average attainment for PP pupils nationally.

The group of pupils eligible for PP funding however is not a homogenous group for who a common set of strategies is effective. Our most able group of pupils for whom PP funding is provided outperform the rest of the cohort in the progress they make in maths and English. In mathematics 89% of the Upper ability group of PP pupils achieved expected levels of progress or better compared to 79% of the whole cohort. In English88% of the Upper band of those eligible for PP funding achieved expected levels of progress or better compared to 61% of Upper Ability pupils in the whole cohort. Equally some option’s subjects are very successful in achieving positive residuals for those eligible for PP funding in Year 11. Subjects such as Art, Catering, Child Development, Dance, English Language, English Literature, Health & Social Care, Media, PE GCSE, Resistant Materials and Sport BTEC all achieve positive progress measures for the PP group. Ensuring a good match between pupils of all backgrounds and appropriate options’ choices is an important strategy to ensure the most positive outcomes for all pupils regardless of their backgrounds.

Part of the reason for the negative Progress 8 figure arises because the school embarked on a programme of additional English & mathematics for those pupils who needed extra support in these areas. The extra time came from an option’s subject. The DfE then changed the school performance measures to count subjects in Progress 8 groups. A significant proportion of the pupils studying extra maths and English then found that they lacked an option subject in the middle group which only recognised Science Modern Languages, History and Geography. The number of pupils affected has dropped each year and we expect this shortfall to end in 2017 as the additional mathematics and English was discontinued for this year group.

1.  Summary information
School / Ullswater Community College
Academic Year / 2016/17 / Total PP budget / £167832 / Date of most recent PP Review / n/a
Total number of pupils / 1370 / Number of pupils eligible for PP / 180 / Date for next internal review of this strategy / Jan 2017
2.  Current attainment
Pupils eligible for PP (your school) / Pupils not eligible for PP (national average)
% achieving 5A* - C incl. EM (2015/16 only) / 43.2% / 64.7%
% achieving expected progress in English / Maths (2015/16 only) / 64.3% / 58.1% / 75.8% / 73.4%
Progress 8 score ( 2015/16) / -0.39 / 0.12
Attainment 8 score average (from 2016/17) / D- / C- (School)
3.  Barriers to future attainment (for pupils eligible for PP including high ability)
In-school barriers
A.  / Literacy skills entering Year 7 are lower for pupils eligible for PP than for other pupils, which prevents them from making good progress in Year 7.
B.  / Middle/Low attaining pupils who are eligible for PP are making less progress than other high attaining pupils across Key Stage 3. This prevents sustained high achievement through KS4.
C.  / Middle/Low attaining pupils who are eligible for PP are making less progress than other attaining pupils across KS4. This prevents high achievement at the end of the KS.
External barriers (issues which also require action outside school, such as low attendance rates)
D. / Attendance rates for pupils eligible for PP are 82% (below the target for all children of 95%). This reduces their school hours and causes them to fall behind on average.
4.  Outcomes
Desired outcomes and how they will be measured / Success criteria
A.  / High levels of progress in literacy for Year 7 pupils eligible for PP. / Pupils eligible for PP in Year 7 make more progress by the end of the year than ‘other’ pupils so that at least 50% exceed progress targets and 100% meet expected targets. Other pupils still make at least the expected progress. This will be evidenced using accelerated reader assessments and English written assessments in October, March and June.
B.  / Improved rates of progress across KS3 for middle/low attaining pupils eligible for PP. / Pupils eligible for PP identified as middle/low attaining from KS2 levels / raw scores make as much progress as ‘other’ pupils identified as middle/low attaining, across Key Stage 3, so that 85% or above are on track for 4 levels of progress by the end of KS4. Where they are not, departments are putting in place wave 1 interventions, monitored by heads of departments (HOD) and senior team.
C.  / Improved engagement and progress at KS4 for Middle / Low attaining PP pupils / Pupils eligible for PP identified as middle/low attaining from KS2 levels / raw scores make as much progress as ‘other’ pupils identified as middle/low attaining, across Key Stage 4, so that 85% or above are on track for posoitive P8 scores by the end of KS4. Where they are not, departments are putting in place wave 1 interventions, monitored by heads of departments (HOD) and senior team.
D.  / Increased attendance rates for pupils eligible for PP at all key stages. / Reduce the number of persistent absentees (PA) among pupils eligible for PP from 13.8% to 10% or below. Overall attendance among pupils eligible for PP improves from 91.5% to 95% in line with ‘other’ pupils.
5.  Planned expenditure
Academic year / 2016/17
The three headings below enable schools to demonstrate how they are using the Pupil Premium to improve classroom pedagogy, provide targeted support and support whole school strategies.
i. Targeted support
Desired outcome / Chosen action/approach / What is the evidence and rationale for this choice? / How will you ensure it is implemented well? / Staff lead / When will you review implementation?
A. Improved KS3 literacy progress / Targeted intervention by SENCO for those pupils who require urgent support with Reading & Spelling. / Our pupil premium groups in each year contain a small number of lower ability pupils whose literacy skills are weak on entry to UCC. Reading ages for this group range from 5years 6months to 8 years so urgent action is needed to accelerate their abilities in reading & spelling to ensure that these pupils are able to access the curriculum throughout KS3 & 4 successfully.
In KS3 there are 15 pupils whose reading ages are place them in this group. / A PP pupils are tested on entry to the school to check their levels of literacy. Pupils with a Standard Age Score of 85 or less in Reading will undertake a programme a 1 hour a week programme on guided reading under the supervision of the SENCO. Pupils with a Standard Age Score of 70 will undertake 2 hours a week on this programme.
Those pupils with a Standard Age Score of 80 or less in spelling will undertake a1 hour a week programme called Launch the Lifeboat under the direction of the SENCO. Launch the Lifeboat is a spelling scheme recommended to the school by the LA specialist teacher for literacy. / SENCO / November 2016
£5000
A. Improved Year 7 literacy progress / Targeted support by teachers in English, mathematics & science in KS3 to support rapid improvement in core subjects. / Core subjects do well at GCSE for Upper Ability PP pupils with rates above the rest of the cohort. The progress of Middle and Lower Ability pupils remains, however lower than the remainder of their cohort. There is an urgent need to close the gap in performance at KS3 rather than waiting until KS4 to implement intervention strategies. / Pupils eligible for Pupil Premium funding who fall behind in progress measures in English & mathematics will undertake a Catch-Up programme in English, mathematics and/or science for 1 hour a week until they regain progress levels expected for their age. / Asst Head
Inclusion / November 2016
£8000
A. Improved Year 7 literacy progress / Focused intervention through the Paired Reading Scheme in Year 7 / . Regular reading for pleasure is an important way of improving the reading ages of all pupils but especially those whose reading has fallen behind that of their peers. Our paired reading scheme makes use of the enthusiasm of our Year 12 students who give readily of their early morning time to support pupils whose reading age is low. Results from this scheme have proved to be highly effective in driving up performance and generating warm and supportive mentoring relationships between mentor and mentee. / Using the Year 7 screening data for reading all PP pupils whose reading ages is below 9 years are allocated a Year 12 Paired Reader. All Paired Readers are trained on the required techniques and are prepared to give up 15 minutes a day, two days a week to work with their readers. The programme lasts 15 weeks and pupils are tested at the beginning and end of the programme to measure progress. / Asst Head
Inclusion / December 2016
£5000
B. Improved rates of progress across KS3 for middle/low attaining pupils eligible for PP. / Organise a mentoring scheme for our most vulnerable pupils at KS3 / Our most vulnerable pupils in KS3 funding. In KS3 there are 15 very vulnerable pupils in this group and the majority tend to go on into KS4without the confidence to succeed in their external examinations. We believe that a targeted mentoring scheme involving key staff over the period of KS3 and into KS$ will help to build confidence, improve attendance and generate better progress to prepare pupils for examination courses later in their school lives. / Identify our most vulnerable KS3 pupils using Free School Meals analysis. Recruit a group of experienced staff from within the school who possess good skills in mentoring such pupils. Organise weekly contact between these staff and the pupils they are to support. Create ongoing records of progress to trigger further actions from literacy and numeracy programmes. Involve parents in the discussion about the progress of these pupils. / Asst Head
Inclusion / £5000
C.  Improved engagement and progress at KS4 for Middle / Low attaining PP pupils / Introduce early one to one interviews for PP pupils to establish a clear link between progress at school and career expectations. / Our most vulnerable KS4 pupils often lack the confidence to plan appropriate futures beyond school and this limits their progress at KS4 because they are not confident in taking the risk of success at GCSE in order to achieve appropriately ambitious futures. Our experience of mentoring in the school has been extremely positive and outcomes for students reflect this. / All pupils eligible for Pupil Premium funding will be allocated a mentor from the Senior Team/Pastoral managers. Regular meetings between mentor and mentee will be scheduled. Discussions to include progress data and career plans in addition to Access requirements for exams if appropriate. / Asst Head
Inclusion
Heads of Year 10 & 11 / £30000
Total budgeted cost / £53,000
ii.  Quality of Teaching for all
Desired outcome / Chosen action/approach / What is the evidence and rationale for this choice? / How will you ensure it is implemented well? / Staff lead / When will you review implementation?
A. Improved progress of our most able pupils at KS3 & 4 / Introduce a focused programme of training using a range of training opportunities focused on Stretch & Challenge throughout all departments. / The school has performed well over the last few years for Middle and Lower Ability pupils across the range of abilities and background of our intake. However, our Upper Ability boys and our Middle and Lower ability PP pupils do not, as yet make as much progress as they ought. We believe that all lesson planning should focus on increasing the level of stretch & challenge whatever the ability of the group in order to improve outcomes for all. In addition, we would wish to continue our focus on the effective use of feedback as a tool for driving up achievement for all. / Plan and implement a whole school professional development programme to improve staff skills in increasing stretch & challenge in all lessons and the effective use of feedback as a focus for the entire academic year. Use the INSET day in January to improve skills in these areas. Focus the schools Monitoring, Evaluation & Review programme on the effective use of feedback. Use the information gained from the INSET day and the regular MER programme as a stimulus for ‘Show & Tell’ sessions every Wednesday morning in whole school teaching & learning briefings. / Deputy Head School Performance