Pupil Premiums

What is the pupil premium?

The pupil premium is a grant given to schools to close the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers, and to support pupils with parents in the armed forces (this part of it is also known as the 'service premium').

At Children's Support Service, we have strived to ensure that pupil premium eligible students are able to access all the benefits of attending our Service. The profile of the pupil premium grant is of great importance, and this is reflected with the lead role being a member of the Senior Leadership Team (Nadia Ousain Deputy Headteacher) illustrating the seriousness with which the progress and attainment of these students is taken here.

How do we use pupil premium funding?

We use the pupil premium to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. Our current action plan continues to focus on areas of high impact which meet the individual needs of these learners and looks to remove any barriers to learning and school life.

To achieve these outcomes the school has rigorous monitoring and support systems in place which underpins our strategy report.

What is our approach to spending pupil premium?

Any activity we fund using the pupil premium must align with the 'menu of approaches' provided by the DfE. We focus on approaches across three key tiers:

High-quality teaching

Developing high-quality teaching, assessment and a broad and balanced, knowledge-based curriculum which responds to the needs of pupils
Professional development to support implementation of approaches
Mentoring and coaching for teachers
Supporting the recruitment and retention of teaching staff
Technology and other resources that support high-quality teaching

Targeted academic support

1-to-1 and small group tuition
Peer tutoring
Targeted interventions to support language development, literacy and numeracy
Targeted interventions and resources to meet the specific needs of disadvantaged pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)
Teaching assistant deployment and interventions
Extended school time, including for summer schools

Wider strategies

Supporting pupils' social, emotional and behavioural needs
Supporting attendance
Extra-curricular activities, including sports, outdoor activities, arts, and developing wider life skills
Breakfast clubs and meal provision
Communicating with and supporting parents/carers

How do we develop our pupil premium strategy?

We follow the DfE's recommended 5-step approach to developing an effective strategy:

1. Identify the challenges facing disadvantaged pupils

We use data and speak to teachers, support staff, pupils and parents/carers to identify both academic and non-academic challenges that negatively impact our pupils' education.

2. Use evidence

We combine evidence from external research with our school's own data and staff knowledge to address the challenges our pupils face and understand the impact of different approaches.

3. Develop our strategy

Our strategy addresses the challenges within our control that are having the most significant impact on disadvantaged pupils' outcomes, combines evidence about 'what works' with our knowledge of our school, and sets ambitious but realistic target outcomes.

4. Deliver and monitor our strategy

We integrate activities with the curriculum, make sure all staff promote the principles and ethos of our strategy, and identify which pupils will benefit from each activity and how to monitor impact.

5. Evaluate our strategy

We measure success based on outcomes for eligible pupils, use a robust and transparent evaluation framework, and consider the short, medium and long-term outcomes needed to achieve our strategy objectives.

Where can I find more information?

We publish a pupil premium strategy statement each year by 31 December, using the template published by the DfE to complete our strategy statement. This provides details of how we're spending the grant and its impact on our pupils.

You can find our current pupil premium strategy statement can be found here.

For more information about how we use pupil premium funding to support disadvantaged pupils, please contact Nadia Ousain Deputy Headteacher nadia.ousain@css-essex.co.uk

Our commitment is to ensure that every pupil premium eligible student has the opportunity to achieve their full potential, with targeted support that removes barriers to learning and school life.