Pupil Premium
Pupil Premium 23-24 
This statement details our school’s use of pupil premium funding to help improve the attainment of our disadvantaged pupils. It outlines our pupil premium strategy, how we have spent the funding in 2023-2024 and the outcomes for disadvantaged pupils last academic year.
School Overview
Detail | Data | |
Number of pupils in school (excl. nursey) Oct 23 Census | 163 | |
Proportion (%) of pupil premium eligible pupils | 59.5% (97) | |
Academic year/years that our current pupil premium strategy plan covers | September 2021 – August 2024 | |
Date this statement was published | September 2024 | |
Date on which it will be reviewed | September 2025 | |
Statement authorised by | Emma Elliott, Headteacher | |
Pupil Premium Lead | Emma Elliott, Headteacher | |
Governor Lead | Jan Caisley, LGB Chair | |
Funding Overview
Detail | Amount |
Pupil premium funding allocation | £132,386 |
Recovery Premium allocation | £14,233 |
Pupil premium (and recovery premium*) funding carried forward from previous years (enter £0 if not applicable) | £0 |
Any other income | £0 |
Total budget for this academic year | £146,619 |
Part A: Pupil Premium Strategy Plan
A1. Statement of Intent
Our intention is that all pupils will achieve, develop ambitions and achieve their dreams regardless of their background or challenges they face. The focus of our pupil premium strategy is to support disadvantaged pupils to be successful and make good progress.
Many of our initiatives are whole-school focused as we have such a high proportion of Pupil Premium children. We consider the challenges faced by our disadvantaged pupils and focus on specific provisions and outcomes for all.
We will address pupil premium spending through a tiered approach that consists of high quality teaching, targeted support and wider school strategies. Quality first teaching will be at the heart of our approach and focus on areas in which our disadvantage pupils require support in. This will positively impact on the disadvantaged pupils’ attainment and progress and will also benefit our non-disadvantaged pupils. Our intended outcomes below will support and sustain progress improvements for all pupils.
Our approach will be responsive to common challenges and individual needs, rooted in robust diagnostic assessment, not assumptions about the impact of disadvantage. The approaches we have adopted complement each other to help pupils excel.
To ensure we are effective in our strategy approach we have the following objectives:
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A2. Challenges
This details the key challenges to achievement that we have identified among our disadvantaged pupils.
Challenge number | Detail of challenge | |
1 | Pupils start school with below or significantly below average baselines which impacts on their outcomes as they move through school in reading, writing and maths. | |
2 | Pupils start school with below or significantly below baselines in communication & language. This impacts on their outcomes across the curriculum as they move through school. | |
3 | Limited life and cultural experiences for some of our children limits the understanding of some curriculum areas. | |
4 | Some of our children are not resilient and due to life circumstances, they do not have positive coping strategies. | |
5 | Some of our families need support and encouragement to ensure attendance stays at 96% and above. | |
6 | Children are not exposed to a range of career pathways and therefore struggle to imagine themselves in a variety of roles in the future. | |
A3. Intended Outcomes
This explains the outcomes we are aiming for by the end of our current strategy plan, which ends and how we will measure whether they have been achieved.
Intended outcome | Success criteria | |
Pupils achieve a higher standard at the end of primary phases (EYs/KS1/KS2) in reading and writing. |
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Pupils develop a love of reading |
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Pupils achieve a higher standard at the end of primary phases (EYs/KS1/KS2) in maths |
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A greater number of pupils achieve ARE (Age Related Expectation) at end of year with a greater percentage achieving greater depth within the expected standard |
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Improved oracy skills in pupils |
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Children who need regulation and mental health support have access to tier 1 services – school counselling |
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Children have a space to use to support emotional regulation. |
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High quality, early intervention is provided to families in need to promote positive parenting and develop a healthy family home life. |
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Disadvantaged pupils attendance improves and fewer disadvantaged pupils are persistent absentees. |
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Pupils are provided with opportunities ‘real life’ experiences to enable them to make links in their learning and build stronger connections within the school curriculum. |
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Pupils have higher aspirations for their future selves. |
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A4. Activity in this academic year
This details how we intend to spend our pupil premium funding this academic year to address the challenges listed above.
- Teaching
(for example, CPD, recruitment and retention)
Budgeted cost: £7440.84
Activity | Evidence that supports this approach | Challenge number(s) addressed | |
Implement & embed the Talk for Writing whole school project | 1, 2, 3 | ||
Implement & embed Maths Mastery whole school project including implementing Mastering Number in Early Years and Key Stage One | The DfE non-statutory guidance: | 1, 3, 4 | |
Establish & implement The Oracy Framework from Voice21 Programme within Early Years/Key Stage One | EEF: Oral language interventions | Toolkit Strand | Education Endowment Foundation | EEF | 1, 2 | |
Continue to embed Read, Write, Inc. (a DfE validated phonics programme) to secure stronger phonics teaching for all pupils. Include the purchase of RWI book bag books to support reading development at home. | EEF: Phonics | Toolkit Strand | Education Endowment Foundation | EEF | 1 | |
Support the delivery of interventions by providing quality CPD to teaching assistants that responds to need. | 1, 2, 3 | ||
Implementation of a concept driven curriculum that enables pupils to make links and connections in learning.
Purchase of Number Stacks for maths intervention.
Purchase of Nelson Handwriting Scheme. | DfE: principles-behind-ofsteds-research-reviews-and-subject-reports | All | |
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2. Targeted Academic Support
(for example, tutoring, one-to-one support, structured interventions)
Budgeted cost: £ 120,920.48
Activity | Evidence that supports this approach | Challenge number(s) addressed |
Tutoring with pupils in USK2 to address gaps in learning. | EEF: One to one tuition | EEF (educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk) And in small groups: Small group tuition | Toolkit Strand | Education Endowment Foundation | EEF | 1, 3 |
Provide targeted interventions to pupils that respond directly to assessment needs. | 1, 2, 3 |
3. Wider Strategies
(for example, related to attendance, behaviour, wellbeing)
Budgeted cost: £53,624
Activity | Evidence that supports this approach | Challenge number(s) addressed |
Family Support Worker employed three days per week | 4, 5 | |
Embedding principles of good practice set out in the DfE’s Improving School Attendance advice.
Attendance Officer employed one morning per week | The DfE guidance has been informed by engagement with schools that have significantly reduced levels of absence and persistent absence. | 5 |
School counsellor employed one day per week | EEF: EEF_S&E Learning | 4 |
Introduction of trained emotionally available adult. Responding to and supporting the emotional and mental health needs of pupils. Use of the nurture room as a base and use of specialised resources to support regulation and sensory needs. | DfE: Supporting Children & Young People's Mental Health & Wellbeing | 4 |
Introduction of a whole school library area to promote reading for pleasure. | National Literacy Trust: | 1, 2, 3, 6 |
Total budgeted cost: £152,794.04
Part B: Review of the previous academic year
Outcomes for Disadvantaged Pupils
Disadvantaged figures 2023/24: | |||||
GLD achieved | Year 1 phonics | Year 2 phonics | |||
71% (5/7) | 55% (6/11) | 78% (14/18) | |||
| Reading | Writing | Maths | ||
Year 1 | 45% (5/11) | 45% (5/11) | 64% (7/11) | ||
Year 2 | 56% (10/18) | 50% (9/18) | 50% (9/18) | ||
Year 3 | 40% (4/10) | 30% (3/10) | 40% (4/10) | ||
Year 4 | 15% (2/13) | 15% (2/13) | 31% (4/13) | ||
Year 5 | 38% (5/13) | 46% (6/13) | 62% (8/13) | ||
Year 6 | 61% (11/18) | 61% (11/18) | 61% (11/18) | ||
Our disadvantaged GLD figures at 71% is above both the Newcastle average of 53.5% and the National average of 52%
Our disadvantaged data for KS1 is broadly in line with both National and Newcastle averages.
Our disadvantaged KS2 Reading is also in line with the National figure of 62% as Writing 58% and maths 59%. We are above both National and Newcastle averages for our Reading/Writing/Maths combined with 61% of our disadvantaged children achieving compared to 45% National and 50% Newcastle averages.
Rigorous progress meetings were held throughout the year with the Assessment Lead in order to identify pupils on track and not on track. The RAG tool on the Smart trackers continued to prove very beneficial to support in the identification of intervention level required. Those meetings helped to inform interventions, and these were reviewed half termly to ensure progress.
Following on from the progress meetings, the assessment lead worked alongside the SENDCo, using the Cause for Concern spreadsheet, to identify pathways and create action plans for those pupils who were not on track.
Tutoring:
85 pupils received tutoring through school- led tutoring in 2023/24. Of those 90 pupils, 49 (58%) were pupil premium.
Of the 49 disadvantaged pupils who received tutoring, 32 (65%) made expected or above progress from their start points. 4 of those pupils (8%) achieved above expected progress.
The nurture room has been created and resourced to provide a dedicated space for children to use when they are in emotional dysregulation. Resources have been sourced carefully and the room has been created with input from an educational psychologist. We have a member of staff who works as the emotionally available adult in this area and respond to needs. We have had some good success with this role including supporting children with their attendance to stop them slipping into a persistent absentee category and helping new children settle into school.
The Nook has been created as a space to hold counselling weekly and as an additional space for professionals to work/meet with pupils. The room has been repurposed from an office to provide a calm, welcoming, home like feel. Our school counsellor will be based here every Thursday in academic year 2023/24.
12 pupils accessed school counselling from the Road Centre during 2023-2024. All 12 pupils were disadvantaged.
Our school family support worker is employed 2.5 days per week and during academic year 2023/24 worked with 39 disadvantaged families. They continue to provide families with early intervention support around behaviour, routines and boundaries, school transfers, secondary applications, family support and attendance. They liaise with external services to support families with mental health, benefits, finances, housing, domestic violence and SEND. In addition, they are part of core groups that provide support to families on Early Help plans, Child in Need and Child Protection.
The vulnerable learners list is in place and is regularly reviewed by family support and senior leaders to ensure it is up to date and enable pupils to achieve positive outcomes.
Overall attendance in 2023/24 for disadvantaged pupils was 92.9% compared to non-disadvantaged pupils who were at 95.2%. This is lower than our target figure and will remain a continued focus of our strategy plan to increase the figure to closer to 96%. However, our disadvantaged attendance is up 1.5% from the previous academic year. Monitoring of all pupils is undertaken by all staff with the support of our Attendance Officer.
A whole school library space has been created. The computing area has been repurposed in order to facilitate this. The library stocks a range of books including fiction, poetry, non-fiction and graphic novels. All classes have had timetabled access to the library each week and we have used the space to facilitate a story-telling workshop with a professional storyteller for parents and children. The library is incredibly popular with our children and they are now able to talk about a greater range of authors. They have also demonstrated good attitudes towards the books.