What is pupil premium?

Pupil premium is funding to improve education outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in schools in England. Evidence shows that disadvantaged children generally face additional challenges in reaching their potential at school and often do not perform as well as other pupils.

The Government’s current measure of disadvantage is any child who is or has been eligible to Free School Meals in the past six years. Evidence suggests that the average performance of disadvantaged children is below that of non-disadvantaged children and that progress is slower. The Pupil Premium, introduced in April 2011, seeks to address these inequalities by providing schools with additional funding to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils.

How do we use it?

The statement below details Ellen Wilkinson Primary’s use of pupil premium funding  (and recovery premium for the 2021 to 2022 academic year) 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. 

This is the first year of a new 3-year long-term pupil premium strategy from September 2022 to September 2025. This strategy is based on the long-term approach to pupil premium planning recommended by the Department for Education (DfE) and the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF). The review of the final year (2021-22) of the last 3 year cycle is also included.

EWPS Pupil Premium Strategy Intent

Our intention is that all pupils make good progress and achieve highly across all subject areas, in particular diminishing the difference in the attainment between pupil premium and non-pupil premium children. Our ultimate objective is for every mainstream child to leave year 6 at an age expected level or better.

The focus of our pupil premium strategy is to support disadvantaged pupils to achieve this goal, including progress for those who are already high attainers. We know that the core skills in English and Maths underpin all aspects of learning. With this secure knowledge, pupils will be able to unlock the whole curriculum and will have the necessary skills to become lifelong learners. Therefore, we prioritise strategies that will support pupils to make the necessary progress in English and maths as a starting point.

We believe the best way in which to do this is in maximising the use of the pupil premium grant (PPG) by utilising a long-term strategy aligned to the School Priorities Plan (SDP). This enables us to implement a blend of short, medium and long-term interventions, and align pupil premium use with wider school improvements and improving readiness to learn. Overcoming barriers to learning is at the heart of our PPG use. We understand that needs and costs will differ depending on the barriers to learning being addressed.

We recognise that high quality teaching is at the centre of all improvement and this is prioritised. This is supported by the curriculum vision and golden absolutes which outlines the provision we provide and the pedagogy attached to its delivery which is designed to enrich and empower students to excel in all areas (see below).

The approaches we have adopted complement each other to help pupils excel.  At their heart is:

• Quality teaching from all members of staff
• High expectations of all children to maximise their academic potential
• Acting early to ensure all children gain additional support at the earliest opportunities
• Pastoral approach that runs simultaneously with the academic approach so all children have opportunities to excel

To ensure our strategies are effective, we use robust diagnostic assessments to track impact so that we can act quickly to intervene at the point need is identified