Pupil Premium

Who is entitled to the Pupil Premium?

The Pupil Premium is a government initiative that targets money at pupils from deprived backgrounds who research shows, underachieve compared to their non deprived peers. The Government has used pupils entitled to Free School Meals as an indicator for deprivation and deployed a fixed amount of money to schools per pupil based on the number of pupils registered for Free School Meals or those who have been eligible over the last six years. The funding also includes a sum for those children who have been looked after for more than six months.

The funding is provided for the specific purpose of increasing the attainment and progress of these groups of pupils. An additional premium is provided based upon the number of pupils who have a parent working for the armed services. This service premium is designed to address the emotional needs and well-being of these pupils.

Recent Pupil Premium Allocations for St. Matthias CE Primary School

2019-2020	£102,960	78 Pupils
2018-2019	£105,600	80 Pupils
2017-2018	£104,280	68 Pupils
2016-2017	£108,240	82 Pupils
2015-2016	£113,520	86 Pupils
2014-2015	£116,152	93 Pupils

Our Key Objectives (Desired Outcomes) when spending the PPG

For all disadvantaged pupils to make rapid progress towards achieving at Age Related Expectations (ARE).
For all disadvantaged pupils to remain a priority for additional provision to meet their social, emotional, physical, and learning needs.
For all disadvantaged pupils to receive a personal or bespoke provision to help address areas of inequality.
For high quality communication and liaison between home and school to be the norm.
For all disadvantaged children to be able to access a range of wider opportunities than might ordinarily be available to them.
To maintain the focus on raising standards and narrowing the gap between highest achievers and more vulnerable groups of learners

Barriers to Educational Achievement at St. Matthias CE Primary among Pupil Premium Children

The main barriers to educational achievement that impact our vulnerable learners fall into seven main categories. These are;

1. Physical and material disadvantage, including in some instances poor housing and severe poverty

2. Limited aspiration and expectation which can manifest in a lack of parental engagement

3. Reduced social and cultural capital with children who are not exposed to rich and varied life experiences

4. Low value placed on school and learning resulting in low attendance and hard to reach families

5. Low levels of social and emotional well-being

6. Challenging Home Circumstances

7. Low levels of language and communication skills

Our Key PPG Strategy

St. Matthias CE Primary School has developed a carefully planned and comprehensive strategy to use the PPG funding in a number of ways to minimise and, in many cases, overcome these barriers and diminish the difference between children in receipt of the PPG and those who are disadvantaged, the rest of the school and the national cohort. We measure the effect of our Pupil Premium spend by analysing internal and external progress and achievement data for each of our vulnerable children.

The interventions and support put in place at St. Matthias CE Primary School have been carefully chosen, based on our research of successful strategies, our own previous experience or strategies shared by our partner schools as having been particularly effective.

Our Pupil Premium Strategy is reviewed annually during the Autumn term.

The following is a summary of the main strategies adopted

Physical and material disadvantage

Ipads and IT equipment in schools
Funding set aside to get more books into the home
Support with the cost of school uniform
Low cost / funded places at Before and After School Club
Low cost / funded home learning books for Years 5 and 6 pupils

Limited aspiration and expectation

Changes in school ethos and vision to include raised aspirations by staff
Small group interventions in Literacy and Maths run by trained teachers
Interventions programmes such as Numbers Count, First Class Number, Success at Arithmetic, Phonics, Reading and Writing.
School focus on SOLO taxonomy to support higher order thinking
School funded Educational Psychologist
Half termly Pupil Progress Meetings between SLT and class teachers
Additional time set aside during Parent Consultation Evenings for parents
Teacher accountabilities set during Appraisal interviews for pupil progress and attainment
Assessment targets set for each child for end of year / key stage

Reduced social and cultural capital

Funding for school trips / residential experiences
School funded educational visitors – the History Man, the Animal man, theatre groups, Circus Skills Week (alternate years)
Funding for additional enrichment activities such as music lessons, theatre visits, high interest days
Curriculum designed to include a cultural focus within each key topic
Comprehensive selection of after school clubs over the course of a year

Low value placed on school and learning

Funding for Educational Welfare Officer / Deputy Headteacher with a responsibility for improving attendance
Attendance Policy strictly enforced with parents informed immediately of any attendance concerns
Rewards applied for good attendance
Whole school drive to recognise, promote and reward good learning behaviours
Regular communication with parents
Specific ipad apps funded for use at home to support learning – Lexia and IXL
Reading 5 times a week award
Staff available to collect children in the morning as appropriate

Low levels of social and emotional wellbeing

High emphasis placed on key Christian Values
Well being project based on Thrive principles
Positive Behaviour Policy and School choices
Teaching Assistants trained to support social and emotional needs
Time assigned to school Safeguarding lead to provide support for vulnerable families
Direct and regular communication with outside agencies, including Children’s Services
Focus on the Rights Respecting Schools agenda
Thorough hand over meetings to support annual transitions through the school
Good relationship with local High Schools to support smooth, worry free transition procedures

Challenging home circumstances

Early Intervention Support Worker
Parent tuition where appropriate
Homework Clubs with parents invited
Close working relationship between school and Children’s Centre

Low levels of language and communication skills

School funded Speech and Language Therapist for 1 afternoon per week
Key Teaching Assistants attend regular Speech and Language training
Regular 1:1 / small group Speech and Language intervention sessions for specific children

Roles and Responsibilities

The Senior Leadership Team and Governors have a shared responsibility for the outcomes / reporting of the Pupil Premium Strategy.

Governors	To ensure the PPG is effectively used to support raising standards and narrowing the gap for our vulnerable children To review the Pupil Premium Strategy and Pupil Premium Reports regularly to ensure a high focus is maintained on this priority
Acting Headteacher	Termly reports to the Full Governing Body Analysis of data for vulnerable groups Ensuring funding is available to meet the needs of our Pupil Premium children To ensure the Pupil Premium Strategy is up to date and published on the school website To provide an annual statement to parents on how the PPG has been used to address the issue of ‘narrowing the gap’ To liaise with High Schools regarding transition procedures for Year 6 pupils
Acting Headteacher & Assistant Headteachers	To fulfil the role of Safeguarding Lead throughout the school and be aware of any cause for concern raised by class teachers / teaching assistants To liaise with Nursery Manager regarding any Safeguarding concerns for our Nursery / Pre-school children To review attendance at least fortnightly with School Welfare Officer To report attendance concerns to the Headteacher To liaise with Children’s Services, school Social Worker, Early Intervention Family Support Officer when necessary To make referrals to outside agencies when appropriate To arrange for the collection of targeted children from home when necessary To ensure children with social and emotional needs are supported appropriately through the Thrive programme To liaise with parents regarding the social and emotional welfare of their children when necessary
Senior Leaders	To meet with teachers termly for Pupil Progress Meetings – or more frequently, where appropriate To arrange Parent / Carers classes where appropriate To ensure targeted children have the opportunity to take part in Homework Clubs To facilitate AfA Parent Consultation appointments for targeted children To ensure PP children have their learning needs met through the provision of specific targeted interventions, where necessary To ensure teachers / teaching assistants are well trained, competent and confident to deliver planned programmes of additional interventions To promote raised aspirations and expectations for each child among staff and parents / carers

St Matthias CE Primary School