Background to the National Strategy
Pupil premium funding was first allocated to schools in 2012-13. Schools are allocated extra funding according to pupil numbers of Ever 6 Free School Meals pupils, Post Looked After students and services children. Click here for more information: Pupil premium: overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
School leaders must assess the needs of pupil premium students and use the funding to improve attainment. Evidence suggests that pupil premium spending is most effective when schools use a three-tiered approach. St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School calls this the SEA WAVES approach and our aim is to provide holistic support which supports pupils to thrive spiritually, socially and academically.
Intent statement for our pupil premium students
At St Edmund Arrowsmith we intend that all pupils experience an appropriate, broad and balanced curriculum which allows them to leave the school with the necessary knowledge, skills and spiritual and emotional development to lead happy, successful lives. By supporting excellent attendance and enabling access to necessary resources, quality teaching in all areas, enhanced literacy and numeracy improvement programmes and the school’s learning champion strategy, we intend that the Pupil Premium cohort will progress in-line with or better than their non-Pupil Premium Peers. The school’s s bespoke data monitoring for Pupil Premium pupils and joined up approach to pastoral care mean that all Pupil Premium children receive the support that they need to achieve.
Our Strategy
Wave 1: Involves funding universal approaches to ensuring excellent attendance by all pupils and raising the attainment of all students by ensuring a quality curriculum delivered by highly trained professionals with strong expertise.
Wave 2: Involves funding targeted approaches to promoting good progress in the form of enhanced literacy and numeracy learning opportunities for pupils who are identified as warranting additional support. For example, Pupil Premium Covid Recovery funding has been used to provide school led tutoring opportunities for Y11 pupils whose GCSE preparation was identified as being affected by the pandemic.
Wave 3: Involves funding the staffing of professionals to offer academic, motivational, emotional or well-being support to the pupil premium individuals who most need some extra assistance. Our dedicated team of Learning Champions work alongside the pastoral support teams to lead and guide students on their educational journeys. Additionally, any resource needs that are identified are addressed in order to remove all possible barriers to learning.
The Impact
Pupil premium students are closely tracked at the school’s data points throughout the year. Outliers are identified and support is put in place to address issues with attendance, attitude or progress.
Due to the Covid pandemic, there have not been externally validated GCSE results since August 2019. However, in 2019, on average, the pupil premium cohort made very similar progress to the rest of their peers. The Progress 8 score for nonPP was -0.05 and the Progress 8 score for PP was -0.16. The like for like P8 comparison was –0.45 showing that pupil premium students at SEA made better progress than pupil premium students nationally. Internal data for Centre Assessed Grades caused by lockdown, although unvalidated, was equally as strong.
