Pupil Premium Statement 2023-24 (Secondary & Post-16)

Detail of challenge

Low Attendance

• The attendance of our most disadvantaged remains below that of our non-disadvantaged pupils.
• 2022/23 (2021/22 in brackets) attendance for disadvantaged pupils was 86.3% (84.8%) compared to 93.3% (90.8%) for their non-disadvantaged peers, demonstrating improvement but a trend that must continue.
• Persistent absence was 46.0% (54.1% in 2021/22) for disadvantaged pupils, again demonstrating improvement but a trend that must continue.
• Low attendance leads to gaps in learning and knowledge, reducing the frequency of retrieval of past learning also, and thus disproportionately impacts the progress and attainment of disadvantaged pupils.

Literacy Levels

Assessments, observations and discussion with KS3 pupils indicate that disadvantaged pupils generally have lower levels of reading comprehension and literacy levels than peers. This impacts their progress in all subjects.

Across all year groups, our disadvantaged students have a reading age below that of their peers, and this gap must be closed, particularly where students’ reading ages are below their chronological ages and their reading skills at Key Stage 4 are below what is required by the GCSE exam papers.

Mental Health and Wellbeing

Disadvantaged pupils struggle more to maintain their positive mental health and achieve high self-esteem. These challenges particularly affect disadvantaged pupils’ attainment and progress as it impacts their attitude towards school as well as their behaviour, and some students’ struggles were exacerbated further by the pandemic, which we continue to support pastorally.

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Behaviour and Attitudes

Negative points and sanctions are rewarded more regularly to disadvantaged pupils in comparison to their counterparts. This has multiple consequences:

• Pupils disengage with school and their behaviour for learning can deteriorate as a consequence, which leads to low focus in lessons and therefore limits progress.
• Pupils miss learning time due to sanctions given. This then leads to further gaps in learning and sometimes makes it difficult for them to return to the classroom.

Aspiration

Our disadvantaged pupils can have lower aspirations than our non-disadvantaged pupils. As a result, pupils’ engagement in learning is impacted as some disadvantaged pupils do not see the value in academic focus or do not have a post-school plan. In terms of cultural capital, disadvantage can sometimes lead to gaps in students’ cultural capital that mean they find it more challenging to link their knowledge within their schema, including when contextualising their reading.

Our 2023 Year 12 cohort has only 12 disadvantaged pupils, indicating that we have a significant number who do not remain in further education with us.

Success Criteria

Overall teaching practice to be 100% effective, with 50% highly effective so that all pupils have access to quality teaching. Demonstrable through regularly-updated lesson visit records.

Data capture to evidence equality of outcome between PP students and their peers. PP students will be shown to be making progress which is at least in line with their peers.

CPD records will demonstrate the Academy’s commitment to upskilling teachers’ pedagogical practice in line with research and cognitive science approaches (e.g. EEF).

Attainment and progress gaps between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students will have been eliminated, as evidenced in examination results and internal tracking data.

For whole cohort:

• Raise A8 to 43;
• P8 to exceed 0;
• Average MYP score to be 4 or above for all subjects;
• At KS5, Value Added to exceed 0 and APS to be at or above 30.

Improved reading, comprehension and literacy levels among disadvantaged pupils across KS3 and KS4, specifically:

• in Year 7, gaps in reading skill are identified early and remedied through impactful intervention, enabling full access to the MYP curriculum;
• in KS4, gaps in reading skill are identified rapidly and remedied to the point where students can fully access the language demand of English and History exams.

Reading assessment data baselines have been analysed to identify need type and inform intervention. Interventions have been prioritised according to identified need.

Students in Year 7 are all reading at their chronological age, with appropriate scaffolding being supplied only to a small number of students who require support for longer, for example due to a special educational need.

Students in KS4 are all reading at least the reading age required by their GCSE exams – English and History (15 years, 8 months), enabling access to their full suite of exams at the end of the key stage.

Quality assessment and scrutiny of exercise books as per Academy policy demonstrate an increased focus on literacy, particularly key terminology and extended writing, across the Academy and pupils show progress through the curriculum as a consequence.

Sustained high attendance from is evident, specifically by ensuring that the following is observed by the end of this three-year plan:

• the overall absence rate for all pupils is no more than 5%;
• the attendance gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers is no longer discernible;
• attendance of all students is at least in line with the national average;
• the percentage of disadvantaged pupils who are persistently absent is below 25%, to be more in line with students’ non-disadvantaged peers (19% 2020/21).

Sustained high levels of wellbeing by 2024/25 as demonstrated by:

• a reduction in the amount of persistent absence owing to anxiety;
• qualitative data from student voice, student and parent surveys and teacher observations demonstrates improved self-efficacy and self-reported wellbeing levels;
• inclusion referral data indicates a high impact of intervention for students by demonstrating students’ progress from their wellbeing starting points;
• a significant increase in participation in enrichment and co-curricular activities across all students and particularly among disadvantaged pupils.

• Disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged student detentions for lack of equipment are in line, and sanctions are never issued as an indirect penalty for disadvantage.
• Disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged detentions for lack of homework are proportionately in line with each other and no sanctions are issued as an indirect penalty for disadvantage.
• Participation in enrichment, trips and visits for disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students are proportionately in line with each other, or participation rates for PP students exceed that of their peers.
• Academy records demonstrate how the Pupil Premium has been utilised to eliminate disadvantage emanating from a lack of resources.

Evidence that supports this approach

Evidence argues that high quality teaching is the most important factor in ensuring the best possible outcomes for all pupils, particularly those in receipt of PP. The EEF Guide to the Pupil Premium

To continue to drive up standards in teachers’ pedagogy with regular, well-planned and evidence-driven CPD as ‘effective professional development (PD) plays a crucial role in improving classroom practice and pupil outcomes’ Effective Professional Development | EEF.

CPD priority areas to be:

• reading and language development (Improving Literacy in Secondary Schools | EEF);
• metacognition strategies to support students being able to know more and remember more (Metacognition and Self-regulated Learning | EEF);
• adaptive teaching approaches implemented as a result of high quality assessment;
• effective deployment of adults in the classroom (Making Best Use of Teaching Assistants | EEF);
• for new staff and colleagues who are relatively new to the profession, CPD to ensure that excellent support is provided as part of their transition, assuring standards of pedagogy, application of policy (e.g. Behaviour Policy) and of classroom management.

Evidence argues that high-quality homework which is linked to classroom learning, completed in a quiet and supportive environment, can add up to five months to a student’s progress. It is therefore crucial that PP students have the organisation skills necessary to complete homework in a timely fashion, to prevent further disadvantage.

This strategy will also help to celebrate success and reduce the number of sanctions received by PP pupils, something which we know can limit their enthusiasm for school and have an impact on their behaviour and attitudes.

(Education Endowment Fund- Homework)

Acquiring disciplinary literacy is key for students as they learn new, more complex concepts in each subject. We also know that a gap in cultural capital impact disadvantaged students disproportionately, further compounding disadvantage.

Strategies towards improving literacy need to be across the whole curriculum and adapted to suit curriculum needs and ensure pupils are able to understand and utilise the subject specific vocabulary. This is done through CPD to ensure all teachers understand how to teach effective use of literacy in their subjects:

Improving Literacy in Secondary Schools.

Reading comprehension, vocabulary and other literacy skills are heavily linked with attainment in Maths and English:

word-gap.pdf (oup.com.cn)

Also: Alex Quigley ‘Closing the Vocabulary Gap’ and ‘Closing the Reading Gap’ (Routledge).

Acquiring disciplinary literacy is key for students as they learn new, more complex concepts in each subject. Strategies towards improving literacy need to be across the whole curriculum and adapted to suit curriculum needs and ensure pupils are able to understand and utilise the subject specific vocabulary. This is done through CPD to ensure all teachers understand how to teach effective use of literacy in their subjects:

Improving Literacy in Secondary Schools

Reading comprehension, vocabulary and other literacy skills are heavily linked with attainment in maths and English: word-gap.pdf (oup.com.cn)

Evidence that supports this approach

Technology to Improve Learning: Evidence Review. London: Education Endowment Foundation.

(Using Digital Technology to Improve Learning | EEF)

TAs can add value and support disadvantaged pupils make good or better progress when given quality training and instruction, and when utilised in the correct manner.

CPD will be utilised to develop both TAs and teaching staff, making use of the dedicated EEF guidance report:

Making Best Use of Teaching Assistants | EEF

Evidence that supports this approach

The EEF details 8 key approaches to implement in order to improve attendance and this report will be used to inform the type of intervention to which each PP student is likely to respond:

Attendance interventions rapid evidence assessment | EEF

Other Inclusion interventions will be relevant according to need, for example strategies to build resilience for students who are reluctant attenders due to anxiety.

Our attendance strategy will continue to be developed in line with:

Working together to improve school attendance – GOV.UK

The Education Endowment Fund published a review of evidence that found disadvantaged pupils often have high aspirations, but are unclear on how to access opportunities, including how to find out what academic qualifications they need.

For many young people, education goals do not exactly match their aspirations, and therefore careers information and guidance is critical in focusing them on their end destination. Careers guidance, and opportunities to meet employers and other education providers, is therefore vital for PP students in order to avoid compounding ongoing disadvantage (Gatsby: The Benchmarks)

(Poorer young people more likely to have career aspirations that… | EEF).

Improving the mental health, self esteem and social skills of all students, particularly disadvantaged pupils, the impact will be seen in the following areas: :

• a reduction in the incidence of dysregulated behaviours and therefore inclusion and exclusion time, which will enable pupils to access learning without interruption;
• improved behaviour for learning, arising from lower anxiety levels, better concentration and improved engagement;
• better outcomes for the pupil, which could be the equivalent of up to 4 months learning time (Behaviour interventions | EEF).

While there is limited evidence on the direct impact of ensuring pupils have the correct resources on attainment and progress, we know that for pupils to be able to engage in education and have the same opportunities as their peers, sometimes disadvantaged pupils do need support with purchasing items.

The government has published guidance for schools and families in respect of reviewing uniform policies (School uniform: How much does it cost and what financial support is available – The Education Hub).

We also know the importance of building strong relationships between home and school, and are therefore building events into the school calendar to promote this (e.g. parent/child workshops for numeracy).