Pupil Premium Strategy
All members of staff and the governing body accept responsibility for socially disadvantaged pupils and are committed to meeting their pastoral, social and academic needs within a caring and nurturing environment. We will also consider the challenges faced by vulnerable pupils, such as those who have a social worker, children from young carers, and families under difficult circumstances. The activity we have outlined in this statement is also intended to support their needs, regardless of whether they are disadvantaged or not.
We hope that each child will develop a love for learning and acquire skills and abilities commensurate with fulfilling their potential and a readiness for life after school. An emphasis is placed on the core subjects of English and mathematics as without the skills, knowledge and expertise in these core subjects, there would be a barrier to accessing the full curriculum.
High-quality teaching is at the heart of our approach and, working towards these objectives, we are ensuring that all classrooms have an effective teacher at the front who is skilled in implementing whole class mastery teaching in all subjects. Research has shown that this has the greatest impact on narrowing the attainment gap and will simultaneously benefit all pupils in our school. A focus on areas that affect our disadvantage the most will be at the forefront of our intent and therefore this three-year plan has facilitated a whole school approach to encouraging wider reading which is continuously being improved and built upon. In addition to this, providing targeted support through 1:1 or small group tutoring sessions ensures that children can keep up with their peers and continue to access the broad and balanced curriculum for their age group.
Improving attendance and readiness to learn for the most disadvantaged pupils is also at the forefront of everything we do. Inspiring young minds with school enrichments, supporting families financially by providing wrap around care and financing school trips are just a few examples of the current support we have in place. Through getting to know the families facing most challenges and building a relationship based on respect and trust, we aim to engage in a collaborative approach involving teacher, parents and the child themselves.
Our approach will be focused on individual needs and not reactive to assumptions based on the impact of disadvantage. These needs will be identified by assessment tools, diagnostics of the holistic child and by engaging parents.
Our key principles are as follows:
-Ensuring all students receive high-quality teaching in each lesson across the curriculum
-Closing the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers
-Providing targeted academic support for students who are not making the expected progress
-Addressing non-academic barriers to attainment such as attendance, behaviour, well -being and cultural capital
-Ensuring that the Pupil Premium Grant reaches the pupils who need it most