Pupil Premium Strategy
This statement details our school’s use of pupil premium (and recovery premium for the 2021 to 2022 academic year) funding to help improve the attainment of our disadvantaged pupils.
It outlines our pupil premium strategy, how we intend to spend the funding in this academic year and the effect that last year’s spending of pupil premium had within our school.
School overview
| Detail | Data |
|---|---|
| School name | John Hampden School |
| Number of pupils in school | 465 |
| Proportion (%) of pupil premium eligible pupils | 12.68% |
| Academic year/years that our current pupil premium strategy plan covers (3 year plans are recommended) | 2021/2022 to 2024/2025 |
| Date this statement was published | December 2021 |
| Date on which it will be reviewed | July 2022 |
| Statement authorised by | Paul Hankey, Headteacher |
| Pupil premium lead | Laura Craig, Deputy Headteacher |
| Governor |
Funding overview
| Detail | Amount |
|---|---|
| Pupil premium funding allocation this academic year | £73,125.00 |
| Recovery premium funding allocation this academic year | £1.776.25 |
| Pupil premium funding carried forward from previous years (enter £0 if not applicable) | £0 |
| Total budget for this academic year | £74,901.25 |
Part A: Pupil premium strategy plan
Statement of intent
Our intention at John Hampden School is that all pupils, irrespective of their background or the challenges they face, make good progress and achieve high attainment across all subject areas. The focus of our pupil premium strategy is to support disadvantaged pupils to achieve that goal, including progress for those who are already high attainers.
We will consider the challenges faced by vulnerable pupils, such as those who have a social worker and young carers. The activity we have outlined in this statement is also intended to support their needs, regardless of whether they are disadvantaged or not.
High-quality teaching is at the heart of our approach, with a focus on areas in which disadvantaged pupils require the most support. This is proven to have the greatest impact on closing the disadvantage attainment gap and at the same time will benefit the non-disadvantaged pupils in our school. Implicit in the intended outcomes detailed below, is the intention that non-disadvantaged pupils’ attainment will be sustained and improved alongside progress for their disadvantaged peers.
Our approach will be responsive to common challenges and individual needs, rooted in robust assessments, not assumptions about the impact of disadvantage. The approaches we have adopted complement each other to help pupils excel. To ensure they are effective we will:
- ensure disadvantaged pupils are challenged in the work that they’re set
- act early to intervene at the point need is identified
- adopt a whole school approach in which all staff take responsibility for disadvantaged pupils’ outcomes and raise expectations of what they can achieve
Challenges
This details the key challenges to achievement that we have identified among our disadvantaged pupils.
| Challenge number | Detail of challenge |
|---|---|
| 1 | Assessments, observations, and discussions with pupils indicate underdeveloped oral language skills and vocabulary gaps among many disadvantaged pupils. These are evident from Reception through to KS2 and in general, are more prevalent among our disadvantaged pupils than their peers. Limited speech and language skills which can impact upon learning to read and write. |
| 2 | Assessments, observations, and discussions with pupils suggest disadvantaged pupils generally have greater difficulties with phonics than their peers. This negatively impacts their development as readers. |
| 3 | Internal assessment data and comparisons with the Local Authority and Juniper Benchmarking Report indicates that Reading, Writing and Maths combined attainment among disadvantaged pupils is below that of non-disadvantaged pupils in Years 1 and 2. |
| 4 | Internal assessment data and comparisons with the Local Authority and Juniper Benchmarking Report indicates that Writing attainment among disadvantaged pupils is below that of non-disadvantaged pupils. |
| 5 | Our assessments and data comparisons have shown that disadvantaged pupils are falling below or only just making the expected standard for Maths and that across the school they are underperforming as a group compared to non-disadvantaged pupils. |
| 6 | Our assessments and observations indicate that the education and wellbeing of many of our disadvantaged pupils have been impacted by partial school closures to a greater extent than for other pupils. These findings are supported by national studies. Teacher referrals for support have markedly increased during the pandemic. 11 pupils (6 of whom are disadvantaged) currently require additional support with social and emotional needs. |
| 7 | Our attendance records show that some pupils have poor attendance and persistent absenteeism amongst pupil premium pupils. 95.84% of disadvantaged pupils have been absent compared to 98.06% of their peers during the last academic year. 3.92% are ‘persistently absent’ compared to 2.91% of their peers during that period. |
Intended outcomes
This explains the outcomes we are aiming for by the end of our current strategy plan, and how we will measure whether they have been achieved.
| Intended outcome | Success criteria |
|---|---|
| Improved oral language skills and vocabulary among disadvantaged pupils. | Assessments and observations indicate significantly improved oral language among disadvantaged pupils. Other sources of evidence will include engagement in lessons, book scrutiny and ongoing formative assessment. |
| Improved phonic screening attainment among disadvantaged pupils. | Phonic outcomes in 2024/25 show that more than 75% of disadvantaged pupils met the expected standard. |
| Improved maths attainment for disadvantaged pupils at the end of KS2. | KS2 maths outcomes in 2024/25 show that more than 80% of disadvantaged pupils met the expected standard. |
| Improved reading attainment for disadvantaged pupils at the end of KS2. | KS2 reading outcomes in 2024/25 show that more than 80% of disadvantaged pupils met the expected standard. |
| Improved writing attainment for disadvantaged pupils at the end of KS2 | KS2 writing outcomes in 2024/25 show that more than 80% of disadvantaged pupils met the expected standard. |
| To achieve and sustain improved wellbeing for all pupils in our school, particularly our disadvantaged pupils | Sustained high levels of wellbeing from 2024/25 demonstrated by: • qualitative data from student voice, student and parent surveys and teacher observations • a continued downward trend in in bullying a significant increase in participation in enrichment/extra-curricular activities, particularly among disadvantaged pupils |
| To achieve and sustain improved attendance for all pupils, particularly our disadvantaged pupils. | Sustained high attendance from 2024/25 demonstrated by: • the overall absence rate for all pupils being no more than 3%, and the attendance gap between disadvantaged pupils and their non-disadvantaged peers being reduced by 2%. the percentage of all pupils who are persistently absent being below 3% and the figure among disadvantaged pupils being no more than 2% lower than their peers. |
Activity in this academic year
This details how we intend to spend our pupil premium (and recovery premium funding) this academic year to address the challenges listed above.
Teaching (for example, CPD, recruitment and retention)
Budgeted cost: £26,000
| Activity | Evidence that supports this approach | Challenge number(s) addressed |
|---|---|---|
| Marking and feedback bespoke follow-up training with outside consultant. CPD time for teachers to engage with and enhance practice of quality feedback to improve pupil outcomes. | Providing feedback is a well-evidenced and has a high impact on learning outcomes. Effective feedback tends to focus on the task, subject and self-regulation strategies: it provides specific information on how to improve. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/feedback | 2,3,4,5 |
| Embedding dialogic activities across the school curriculum. These can support pupils to articulate key ideas, consolidate understanding and extend vocabulary. We will purchase resources and fund ongoing teacher training and release time. | There is a strong evidence base that suggests oral language interventions, including dialogic activities such as high-quality classroom discussion, are inexpensive to implement with high impacts on reading: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/oral-language-interventions | 1,2,3,4,5 |
| Embedding Kagan Cooperative Learning Strategies across the school curriculum to increase participation, peer mentoring, learning and support. We will purchase resources to aid Kagan structures and provide further CPD with the Deputy Head leading training. | Research shows that collaborative approaches to learning have a positive impact on learners. Learners work together on a shared outcome using the strengths of individuals to create a productive and resourceful approach to learning. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/collaborative-learning-approaches https://www.kaganonline.com/what_is_kagan/ | 1,3,4,5,6 |
| Senior and Middle Management release time for monitoring and tracking phonics, observing and supporting teaching of phonics. We will purchase resources to support our phonic programme and provide training to new members of staff. | Phonics approaches have a strong evidence base that indicates a positive impact on the accuracy of word reading (though not necessarily comprehension), particularly for disadvantaged pupils: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/phonics | 2 |
| Further enhancement of our maths teaching and curriculum planning in line with DfE and EEF guidance. We will fund teacher release time to embed key elements of planning for challenge and differentiation. Middle leader time will be used for book scrutiny and to monitor progress of children as well as training of staff based on EEF evidence of good practice. | The DfE non-statutory guidance has been produced in conjunction with the National Centre for Excellence in the The EEF guidance is based on a range of the best available evidence: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/public/files/Publications/Maths/KS2_KS3_Maths_Guidance_2017.pdf | 3,5 |
| Bespoke training for Wellbeing Ambassadors to support the school’s Sanctuary. Training and release time for Wellbeing Practitioner to train pupils and support The Sanctuary. | Social and emotional learning approaches have a positive impact, on average, of 4 months’ additional progress in academic outcomes over the course of an academic year. There is extensive evidence associating childhood social and emotional skills with improved outcomes at school and in later life (e.g., improved academic performance, attitudes, behaviour and relationships with peers): https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/social-and-emotional-learning | 6 |
| Forest School teacher employed 0.4 days per week to run sessions for vulnerable groups to include PP children | Studies show that outdoor learning has a positive impact on outcomes in terms of self-efficacy, motivation and teamwork. A forest school environment and ethos helps children to develop the strength and resilience needed to cope with emotional difficulties. Children taking part in forest school sessions quickly show evidence of a greater emotional maturity. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/outdoor-adventure-learning | 6 |
| Increased TA support in Reception and Nursery classes to support oracy programmes and pastoral support for most vulnerable. | When deployed correctly, TAs have a large positive impact on the outcomes of learners. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/teaching-assistant-interventions | 1,2,3,6 |
| NACE Challenge Mark process commencing to embed ‘challenge for all’. Bespoke training from NACE and the Deputy Head will look at strategies for creating a culture of challenge without boundaries. | Each child has the right to reach their full potential regardless of background. Teaching for challenge has a positive impact for all learners. https://www.nace.co.uk/page/about EEF teaching for Mastery: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/mastery-learning | 3,4,5 |
| Additional teacher to provide experiential curriculum enrichment activities and events – Artsweek, Vikings, WWII, Egyptians, Romans, Greeks role-play days. | Creative and experiential learning brings learning to life and engages children orally and physically in an activity. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/arts-participation | 1,6 |
Targeted academic support (for example, tutoring, one-to-one support structured interventions)
Budgeted cost: £27,000
| Activity | Evidence that supports this approach | Challenge number(s) addressed |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase of a programme to improve listening, narrative and vocabulary skills for disadvantaged pupils who have relatively low spoken language skills. | Oral language interventions can have a positive impact on pupils’ language skills. Approaches that focus on speaking, listening and a combination of the two show positive impacts on attainment: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/oral-language-interventions | 1,3,4 |
| Before and after-school tutoring groups to be run by teachers and Teaching Assistants to focus on maths and reading comprehension skills. | Tuition targeted at specific needs and knowledge gaps can be an effective method to support low attaining pupils or those falling behind: And in small groups: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/small-group-tuition | 3,4,5 |
| Fixed term appointment of Teaching Assistant for Reading boost for the bottom 20% of readers in KS1 (inclusive of Pupil Premium pupils) | Significant evidence suggests reading comprehension strategies are high impact on average (+6 months). Alongside phonics it is a crucial component of early reading instruction. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/reading-comprehension-strategies | 1,2,3 |
| Additional maths teacher to teach Y6 in three groups to tailor curriculum to suit needs of pupils following lockdown gaps in learning. By utilising TA support in this group, our most vulnerable pupils receive small group tuition in tasks daily. | Small group tuition has an average impact of four months’ additional progress over the course of a year. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/small-group-tuition | 3,5 |
| Additional 1.8 teaching days in EYFS to help pupil premium children achieve early learning goals | Small group tuition has an average impact of four months’ additional progress over the course of a year. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/small-group-tuition | 1,2,6 |
Wider strategies (for example, related to attendance, behaviour, wellbeing)
Budgeted cost: £21,901.25
| Activity | Evidence that supports this approach | Challenge number(s) addressed |
|---|---|---|
| Whole staff training on Zones of Regulation with the aim of developing our school ethos, improving behaviour across school by helping children to recognise and regulate their emotions and develop strategies when this is hard to do. | Both targeted interventions and universal approaches can have positive overall effects: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/behaviour-interventions Zones of Regulation: https://www.zonesofregulation.com/index.html EEF Social and Emotional Learning (SEL): https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/social-and-emotional-learning | 6 |
| Embedding principles of good practice set out in the DfE’s Improving School Attendance advice. This will involve training and release time for staff to develop and implement new procedures and appointing attendance/support officers to improve attendance. | The DfE guidance has been informed by engagement with schools that have significantly reduced levels of absence and persistent absence. | 7 |
| To help support independence and resilience the school pays for PP children to attend residential trip and day trips where necessary Financial support for extra-curricular clubs, ranging from sport to cookery. | Learning outside of the classroom brings the benefits of formal and informal education together and reinforces that the most meaningful learning occurs through acquiring knowledge and skills through real-life, practical or hands-on activities. https://www.lotc.org.uk/what-where-why/why/ | 6 |
| 1:1 sessions working on specific social and emotional issues with SENCO | The average impact of successful SEL interventions is an additional four months’ progress over the course of a year. Alongside academic outcomes, SEL interventions have an identifiable and valuable impact on attitudes to learning and social relationships in school. EEF Social and Emotional Learning (SEL): https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/social-and-emotional-learning | 6 |
| To help parental engagement/partnership with school in supporting child’s learning needs the school employs a Pupil Well-being Practitioner | SEL interventions have an identifiable and valuable impact on attitudes to learning and social relationships in school. EEF Social and Emotional Learning (SEL): https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/social-and-emotional-learning | 6 |
| Overtime payments for TAs to attend training | The average impact of the deployment of teaching assistants is about an additional four months’ progress over the course of a year. Where teaching assistants deliver targeted interventions to individual pupils or small groups, on average show moderate positive benefits. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/teaching-assistant-interventions | All |
| Contingency fund for acute issues. | Based on our experiences and those of similar schools to ours, we have identified a need to set a small amount of funding aside to respond quickly to needs that have not yet been identified. | All |
Total budgeted cost: £74,901.25
Part B: Review of outcomes in the previous academic year
Pupil premium strategy outcomes
This details the impact that our pupil premium activity had on pupils in the 2020 to 2021 academic year.
Our internal assessments during 2020/21 suggested that the performance of disadvantaged pupils was lower than in the previous 4 years in maths and writing. Despite previously seeing an upward trend, the outcomes we aimed to achieve in our previous strategy by the end of 2020/21 were therefore not fully realised. Reading continued it’s upward trend for our 5th year but disadvantaged children meeting the greater depth standard dropped for the first time in 3 years.
Our assessment of the reasons for these outcomes points primarily to Covid-19 impact, which disrupted all our subject areas to varying degrees. As evidenced in schools across the country, school closure was most detrimental to our disadvantaged pupils, and they were not able to benefit from our pupil premium funded improvements to teaching and targeted interventions to the degree we had intended. The impact was mitigated by the quality of provision by our teachers in lockdown. A mixture of Purple Mash, White Rose Maths, Oak Academy and daily online zoom lessons meant that home learning was accessible to pupils on lots of levels. By loaning laptops to disadvantaged families and school places to our most vulnerable pupils, we were able to maintain a level of engagement from our pupils.
Overall attendance in 2020/21 was higher than the 2019 pre-covid national average. At times when all pupils were expected to attend school, absence among disadvantaged pupils was 2% higher than their peers.
Our assessments and observations indicated that pupil behaviour, wellbeing and mental health were significantly impacted last year, primarily due to COVID-19-related issues. The Stirling Children’s wellbeing scale analysis for our school we scored 39.9% and the current mean average nationwide for this survey is 44%, meaning we are just at the lower end of the average scale. We used pupil premium funding to provide wellbeing support for all pupils, and our wellbeing practitioner increased her days of work in order to work with more children during the summer terms. We are building on that approach with the activities detailed in this plan.
Further Information
Additional activity
Our pupil premium strategy will be supplemented by additional activity that is not being funded by pupil premium or recovery premium. That will include:
- embedding more effective practice around feedback. EEF evidence demonstrates this has significant benefits for pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils.
- offering a wide range of high-quality extracurricular activities to boost wellbeing, behaviour, attendance, and aspiration. Activities will focus on building life skills such as confidence, resilience, and socialising. Disadvantaged pupils will be encouraged and supported to participate.
Planning, implementation, and evaluation
In planning our new pupil premium strategy, we evaluated why activity undertaken in previous years had not had the degree of impact that we had expected. We also commissioned a pupil premium review to get an external perspective.
We triangulated evidence from multiple sources of data including assessments, engagement in class book scrutiny, conversations with parents, students and teachers in order to identify the challenges faced by disadvantaged pupils. We also used the EEF’s families of schools database to view the performance of disadvantaged pupils in schools similar to ours and contacted schools with high-performing disadvantaged pupils to learn from their approach.
We looked at a number of reports, studies and research papers about effective use of pupil premium, the impact of disadvantage on education outcomes and how to address challenges to learning presented by socio-economic disadvantage. We also looked at studies about the impact of the pandemic on disadvantaged pupils.
We used the EEF’s implementation guidance to help us develop our strategy, particularly the ‘explore’ phase to help us diagnose specific pupil needs and work out which activities and approaches are likely to work in our school. We will continue to use it through the implementation of activities.
We have put a robust evaluation framework in place for the duration of our three-year approach and will adjust our plan over time to secure better outcomes for pupils.