Pupil Premium

Purpose

The pupil premium is a Government initiative that targets extra money at pupils from deprived backgrounds, who, research shows, underachieve compared to their non-deprived peers. The Pupil Premium Grant (PPG) is provided to support these pupils in reaching their potential.

The Government has used pupils entitled to Free School Meals (FSM) as an indicator for deprivation, and allocates a fixed amount of money to schools per identified pupil. At Quest Primary School we will be using PPG funding to ‘narrow the gap’ regarding attainment.

The Government believes that the Pupil Premium, which is additional to main school funding, is the best way to address the current underlying inequalities between children eligible for free school meals (FSM) and their peers by ensuring that funding to tackle disadvantage reaches the pupils who need it most.

Accountability

The Government believes that headteachers and school leaders should decide how to use the Pupil Premium. They are held accountable for the decisions they make through:

  • the performance tables which show the performance of disadvantaged pupils compared with their peers
  • the Ofsted inspection framework, under which inspectors focus on the attainment of pupil groups, in particular those who attract the Pupil Premium
  • the reports that schools publish online

Downloads

Characteristics of students eligible for Pupil Premium funding

  • Lower literacy skills upon entry in Year 7. Reading skills are particularly low.
  • Lower mathematical skills upon entry in Year 7.
  • High Prior Attaining students who are also eligible for PP funding make lower than expected levels of progress.
  • Progress of disadvantaged students is lower than non-disadvantaged students at KS4.
  • Lower motivation and engagement is a common characteristic of PP students.
  • Internal and fixed term exclusions are disproportionately high in students eligible for PP funding.
  • Attendance levels for PP students is lower than non-PP students.

This figure, taken from an article by EducationDataLab shows how progress levels for disadvantaged students becomes progressively lower the longer they have been eligible for Free School Meals; information such as this much be considered when analysing student performance and structuring appropriate intervention.

Year 7 Catch Up Premium

Literacy Catch up

We have employed a Literacy  specialist to carry out small group work with Year 7 students identified as being below the expected level for their stage based on their primary school SAT results and on their performance in a whole year group screening test which they take at Woodcote in their first week.

What actions are taken

A small group of up to 9 students is created and work in this group focuses on improving spelling, punctuation, grammar, reading accuracy and reading comprehension.. Pupils are assessed at the start of the intervention program  and at the end of each term. If a pupil makes sufficient progress then they will return to their timetabled lesson earlier.

Results of the intervention

Last year 6 pupils exceeded their expected level of progress whilst 3 pupils made marginally less progress than expected. These pupils’ progress continues to be monitored in case further intervention is required.