Pupil Premium Policy for Pixies Hill Primary School

Date of Policy / November 2017
Review Date / November 2020

Aims:

At Pixies Hill School, we have high aspirations and ambitions for our children and we believe that no child should be left behind. Through our Values based education philosophy, we strongly believe that it is not about where you come from but your passion and thirst for personal growth, and your dedication and commitment to learning that make the difference between success and failure, and we are determined to ensure that our children are given every chance to realise their full potential. Pupil premium funding represents a significant proportion of our budget and this policy outlines how we will ensure it is spent to maximum effect.

Background

The pupil premium is a government initiative that targets extra money at pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. This includes children who are on the free school mealregister now or in the past 6 years, have parents who are in the armed forces or for children who are looked after by the LocalAuthority. National research shows that pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds underachieve compared to their non-disadvantaged peers. The premium is provided to enable these pupils to be supported to reach their potential.

The Government have provided a fixed amount of money for schools per pupil based on the number of pupils registered for FSM over a rolling six year period.

Context

When making decisions about using pupil premium funding, it is important to consider the context of the school and the subsequent challenges faced. Common barriers for FSM children can be barriers to support at home, weak language and communication skills, lack of confidence and attendance and punctuality issues. There may also be complex family situations that prevent children from flourishing. The challenges are varied and there is no “one size fits all” nor should there be the incorrect assumption that a child on the pupil premium register has barriers to learning.

Key Principles

By following the key principles below, we believe we can maximise the impact of our pupil premium spending.

Building Belief

We will provide a culture where:

  • staff believe that there are “no glass ceilings” in what our children can achieve
  • there are “no excuses” made for underperformance
  • staff adopt a “solution-focused” approach to overcoming barriers
  • staff support children to develop “growth” mindsets towards learning

Pupil Premium Champion

Our Pupil Premium Champion in partnership with the Headteacherhas overall responsibility for the area of pupil premium including:

  • Liaising with teachers and support staff about appropriate interventions
  • Leading the interventions
  • Championing pupil premium children in pupil progress meetings and associated meetings
  • Evaluating impact through representation at Senior Leadership Meetings
  • Retaining relevant paperwork which includes a record of work, progress and achievement for each individual child
  • Liaising with parents to keep them informed of what their child can do and needs to do next
  • Producing termly data which identifies progress and attainment across a key stage and an cohort

Systems, Procedures and Practice

Analysing Data

We will ensure that:

  • All staff are involved in the analysis of data so that they are fully aware of strengths and weaknesses across the school
  • All staff are given key messages from monitoring activities (book, lesson plans, environments, marking and feedback)
  • We use research (e.g. Education Endowment Foundation Toolkit) to support us in determining the strategies that will be most effective when preparing our annual pupil premium plan

Identification of Pupils and Pupil Progress Meetings

We will ensure that:

  • All teaching staff and support staff are involved in the analysis of data and identification of pupils through our twice termly pupil progress meetings. The team will also include the Pupil Premium Champion, the Headteacher, the Deputy Headteacher and (when available) the governor assigned to a particular class.
  • All staff are aware of who pupil premium and vulnerable children are
  • Pupil Premium funding is based on greatest need but also considers all children and how we can best extend skills, knowledge and challenge
  • Underachievement at all levels is targeted (not just lower attaining pupils)
  • Children’s individual needs are considered carefully so that we provide support for those children who could be doing “even better if…..”

Teaching and Learning

We will continue to ensure that all children across the school receive good teaching, with increasing percentages of outstanding teaching achieved by using our Senior Leaders and Governors to:

  • Set high expectations
  • Address any within-school variance
  • Ensure consistent implementation of the non-negotiables, e.g. marking and guided reading
  • Share good practice within the school and draw on external expertise
  • Provide high quality CPD
  • Improve assessment through joint levelling and moderation
  • Improve attendance and punctuality
  • Provide intervention as early as possible
  • Promote the school homework club, breakfast club, read and stay and a range of other regular events, workshops and clubs
  • Be analytical about individual need using evidence of barriers to learning, children’s books, data, anecdotal information and research
  • Ensure there is strong communication between teachers and support staff
  • Match skills of support staff to the interventions provided
  • Work with other external agencies such as Gade Family Support, Educational Psychologists and Advisory agencies to provide support beyond the school
  • Go the extra mile in times of extreme need and when we are required to do so

Developing, Monitoring and Evaluating our Pupil Premium Plan

The pupil premium plan will:

  • Be written and revised by the Pupil Premium Champion, the Headteacher, the Senior Leadership Team and the Governors
  • Be available on the school website
  • Evaluate the previous year’s objectives, actions and outcomes
  • Set out a plan of spending which considers:
  • Quality of Teaching for All
  • Targeted Support
  • Other Approaches e.g. provision beyond the classroom
  • Be a standing item agenda on the Governor School Improvement Committee
  • Be monitored by the Governor School Improvement Committee and the Senior Leadership Team. Amendments will be made where required and/or a further appendix will be added as required
  • Be informed by regularly collected assessment data to inform progress and planning alongside pupils’ work, observations, pupil/parent/staff voice and monitoring activities
  • Be supported by case studies which evidence progress where required
  • Evaluate cost effectiveness, most (and least) influential actions and future barriers to learning
  • Be clearly costed

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