Pupil Premium

The Staff and Governors at Wallsend St Peter’s C of E VA Primary School are totally committed to ensuring that the provision is made which secures the learning and teaching opportunities that meet the needs of all the children so that all make maximum progress and reach their potential.

Our school welcomes and shares the government’s aim of tackling all forms of disadvantage and working tirelessly to ensure inclusion and equal access for all learners. We recognise that pupil premium funding is allocated to children in receipt of one of the following:

• Free School Meals
• Looked After Children
• Children with parents in the Armed Forces

It is a means of addressing some of the issues associated with social disadvantage and in particular, in narrowing and hopefully eventually closing any gap in attainment where this exists. In making appropriate provision for this we are also acknowledged that not all pupils in receipt of free school meals are socially disadvantaged.

Pupil Premium is allocated to local authorities and schools with pupils on roll at the January census and has been eligible for any of the above at any time in the last six years. Each of these pupils will attract an allocated amount (£1,320 in 2017-18 for disadvantaged pupils and £1,900 for Looked-After children or with parents in the Armed Forces). Schools will have the freedom to spend the Premium, which is additional to the main schools block allocation, in a way they think will best support the raising of attainment for the most vulnerable pupils. The targeted and strategic use of pupil premium will support us in achieving our vision.

Principles

• We ensure that teaching and learning opportunities meet the needs of all of our pupils
• We ensure that appropriate provision is made for pupils who belong to vulnerable groups this includes ensuring the needs of socially disadvantaged pupils are adequately assessed and addressed.
• In making provision for socially disadvantaged pupils, we recognize that not all pupils who receive free school meals will be socially disadvantaged
• Pupil premium funding will be allocated following a needs analysis which will identify priority classes, groups or individuals. Limited funding and resources means that not all children receiving free school meals will be in receipt of pupil premium interventions at one time.

Provision

Wallsend St Peter’s is committed to excellence and the maintenance of high standards. We offer a wide range of provisions aimed at enabling all learners to enjoy and thrive in learning and achieve their best. The range of provisions the Governors consider making for this group would include:

• Reducing class sizes thus improving opportunities for effective teaching and accelerating progress
• Providing small group work with an experienced teacher focused on overcoming gaps in learning
• 1:1 support
• Additional teaching and learning Support Assistants or external agencies
• All our work through the pupil premium will be aimed at accelerating progress moving children to at least age related expectations. Initially this will be in Communication, English and Mathematics.
• Facilitating pupils’ access to education and to the school curriculum
• Additional opportunities to enhance or complement the schools after school clubs
• Alternative support and intervention, arranged through a pupil’s parent

Rationale for decisions about provision 

The rationale for resource deployment is decided by the school based on the principles stated in our school improvement plan. These are:

• Narrowing the Gap between FSM6 and non FSM
• Raising Standards and Achievement in Mathematics

Pupil Premium Funding will be used in the first instance to support the learning needs of children in receipt of free school meals, who need extra support, however, this provision may well also include other children who have been identified as ‘vulnerable’. Such decisions will be at the discretion of the Head Teacher.

The school’s leadership team, will monitor the attainment and progress of all pupils and decide which pupils need additional provision and what this provision will be. We use on-going and fixed point assessment to identify children’s learning needs and plan next steps teaching. A range of additional support may be provided that is felt to best meet the child’s needs at the time. 

We always seek to provide outstanding quality first teaching for all pupils. Timely, precision teaching intervention is also used to maximize pupils’ progress and attainment. Where it is considered that there is a need for alternative provision from external providers that complements the school’s offer, the Head Teacher will agree this following discussion and advice from colleagues and other relevant sources.

Monitoring and Evaluating Provision

Once decided, additional provision is monitored session by session by those staff providing the support. Adaptations are then made as necessary. The overall effectiveness and impact is evaluated termly, usually through year group attainment and progress meetings or through the twice yearly Additional Needs Reviews held between the SENDCO and class teacher.

In evaluating effectiveness, a range of evidence is used including:

• Attainment and progress outcomes;
• Feedback from staff, the children, parents and other professionals who may be involved;
• Examples of learning through photographs, recorded learning transcriptions
• Evidence relating to improved confidence, well-being, attitude, behaviour etc

Reporting and Accountability

It will be the responsibility of the Head Teacher, or a delegated member of staff, to produce a report for the Governors every term on:

• The progress made towards narrowing the gap, by year group for socially disadvantaged pupils
• The teacher assessment data, we collect e.g. spellings, reading, writing, math’s that demonstrates this
• Comparative data for all non socially disadvantaged pupils by year group
• An outline of the provision that was made since the last meeting
• An evaluation of the cost effectiveness, in terms of the progress made by the pupils receiving a particular provision, when compared with other forms of support. The head teacher, with support from the school will provide reports to the sub committees and Governing Body on the school’s progress towards ‘Narrowing the Gap for socially disadvantaged and other ‘vulnerable’ pupils. The report will in essence:
• Detail the average progress of those pupils receiving support funded from pupil premium;
• Provide comparative data showing our school’s progress relative to other schools nationally though the modified national data supplied by the DFE (when provided),
• Include financial details of how pupil premium was spent (the School Business Manager will keep on-going records to facilitate this)

The report will also be published on the school’s website and parents/carers will be informed when this has been done via the School’s Newsletter.

Complaints and Appeals

It has been indicated by the DfE that it is intended that parents will be able to request access to their child’s share of the pupil premium. As the intervention program the school implements will be planned in advance and will account for all of the funding available to the school for these activities, funding will not, therefore, be available to parents to arrange their own chosen interventions. Our policy, therefore, is that this will not be allowed. The Head Teacher will meet with the parent and seek to come to an understanding and agreement about how funding will be best used for the individual.

Any allegations, complaints, disagreements or appeal regarding the deployment of Pupil Premium Funding will be through the Complaints Policy.

Review

This policy will be reviewed every 3 year as part of the school’s cycle. However, this can be sooner to reflect new information or changes as to what is required.