Disadvantaged Pupils 

We strategically deploy Pupil Premium funding and other resources to ensure pupils who are socio-economically disadvantaged receive the support and opportunities necessary to succeed by addressing academic, social, emotional, and attendance barriers. We focus on evidencing the impact of this spending on their academic and personal outcomes, focusing resources on the areas that have the greatest impact on closing the attainment gap.

Quality First Teaching

We strive to ensure quality first teaching in every classroom, every day. Spending the Pupil Premium on teacher development and universal classroom strategies benefits all students but disproportionately helps those who may lack support outside of school.

  • Whole-School Ethos: We have established a culture of high expectations ensuring that staff avoid stereotyping and believe every pupil has the potential to succeed.

  • Targeted CPD: We invest in training for all staff on evidence-based strategies such as explicit vocabulary instruction, retrieval practice and adaptive teaching to ensure the curriculum is accessible to all pupils, regardless of their starting point.

  • Effective Staff Deployment: We deploy adults to work with pupils who need the most support, especially in core subjects like English and maths.

Intervention

We implement specific, measurable, time-limited interventions to help identified disadvantaged pupils quickly catch up with their peers, particularly in English and maths, including early reading and early maths. For example:

  • Small-group or one-to-one sessions

  • Daily Reading 

  • Reading Fluency

  • Precision teaching

  • Pre-teaching

We regularly analyse individual pupil data (progress, effort, reading age) to identify gaps early and adjust intervention groups to ensure the support is precise and responsive to the pupil’s needs.

Non-Academic Barriers

 

We understand that pupils may experience significant non-academic factors, such as attendance, behaviour, social skills and access to resources, that can prevent them from being ready to learn. We support pupils in the following ways:

  • Attendance and Punctuality: Our Attendance Officer and Wellbeing Officers work directly with families to identify and overcome the barriers to regular attendance, which is a major challenge for many disadvantaged pupils.

  • Wellbeing Support: We provide counselling, mentoring, or mental health support to address Social, Emotional, and Mental Health (SEMH) issues that impact a pupil's readiness to engage in learning both in school and through links with external agencies. 

  • Cultural Capital and Enrichment: Subsidising or fully funding participation in extra-curricular activities (school trips, music lessons, afterschool clubs, sports, residential visits) to ensure disadvantaged pupils have the same breadth of enriching experiences and personal development opportunities as their peers.

  • Provision of Resources: We support families with essential items to remove financial barriers, such as school uniform, essential equipment, food, other household items. We also consider barriers to learning at home when setting homework - ensuring that all learners can access the expected learning. 

Our strategy is monitored through the Pupil Premium Strategy Statement detailing the expenditure, intended outcomes and the measured impact on closing the attainment gap.