Pupil Premium funding will be used to provide an additional Learning Support Assistant to support in class and withdraw pupils who are not making expected progress. They will run intervention groups that are precisely tailored to suit the needs of the children. The progress of disadvantaged pupils is regularly tracked and intervention is used to ensure the children make expected or more than expected progress. This enables to narrow and close gaps between Pupil Premium pupils and non-Pupil Premium pupils.
Pupil Premium funding is used to ensure that out of school visits and visitors to school inspire disadvantaged pupils and provide them with inspirational experiences which have an impact on their literacy skills. Writing in school is showing an improving trend as a result of this. We feel that first hand experiences and knowledge of our region are beneficial to pupils and aid in their learning.
Improving technological access to disadvantaged pupils is a priority in school and funding will be used this year to ensure that children have access to virtual classrooms, websites and Apps which allow them to achieve their potential in all areas of the curriculum.
Providing emotional and social support to disadvantaged pupils and their families can have a very positive impact on the progress and attainment of Pupil Premium pupils. Children who are socially and emotionally confident and have a settled home life are more likely to thrive educationally. Our PSA, who is funded by three local schools, works with families and pupils to support this.
Staff are very aware that disadvantaged pupils may not be able to access books and reading materials easily and the reading scheme will be reviewed in Spring 2015. resources will be purchased that the children can use at home as well as at school. This helps to strengthen parental engagement, increases progress and raises attainment.
In the year 2014 – 2015, Sunnybrow Primary was allocated £74,100 which we spent in the following ways:
- Employment of an additional Learning Support Assistant to run small group interventions as well as supporting learning in class. (£20,000)
- Shared PSA (£9,000)
- Purchase of resources, including those for the teaching of phonics, grammar and reading (£5,000)
- Subsidising the cost of educational trips to broaden children’s learning and experiences (£2,000)
- Organising events and workshops in school (variable costs)
- Providing free milk for Pupil Premium pupils (Government initiative (£1,560)
- Developing the EYFS outdoor area (£10,000)
- Improving IT equipment and resources (£12,000)
The positive impact of this spending is shown in these results.
EYFS – 86% of Pupil Premium pupils (compared to 50% of Non-Pupil Premium pupils) achieved a Good Level of Development. This is the standard that children are expected to reach at the end of their first year at Primary School.
Year 1 phonics screening – 33% of Pupil Premium pupils passed the Year 1 phonics screening test compared to 56% of the cohort overall. We are confident that the majority of children who did not pass in Year 1 will pass the re-sit test in Year 2 which will work towards narrowing the gap.
KS1 SATs (measured on pupils achieving at least a Level 2B) – 73% of Pupil Premium pupils achieved a Level 2B+ in reading, writing and maths. This is higher than the percentage of Non-Pupil Premium pupils who achieved a Level 2B+ in maths and writing. A higher percentage of Pupil Premium pupils than Non-Pupil Premium pupils made better than expected progress in reading, writing and maths.
KS2 SATs – 100% of Pupil Premium pupils achieved at least a Level 4B+ in reading, writing, maths and GPS (grammar, punctuation and spelling). 75% of Pupil Premium pupils achieved a Level 5 in reading, 25% in writing, 50% in maths and 100% in GPS. 25% of Pupil Premium pupils achieved a Level 6 in GPS. All Pupil Premium pupils made at least expected progress. 75% of Pupil Premium pupils made better than expected progress in reading and 50% in maths and writing.