Lostock High School

Policy

Lostock College Pupil Premium Policy

The Pupil Premium is a government initiative designed to target resources on those pupils deemed eligible for funding. Specifically, the Pupil Premium money is provided for those students who have been on Free School Meals (FSM) at any point over the past 6 years (Ever6), those children who have been looked after continuously for at least 6 months (CLA) and those from families with parents in the armed forces.

From July 2014, schools in England can receive the Pupil Premium for children adopted from care and there is now no cut off for age of the adopted young person. Schools can also claim the Pupil Premium for children who left care under a Residence Order on or after 14 October 1991.

The Pupil Premium is to help schools raise the attainment of students and close the gap with their peers. It is paid to schools in respect of pupils deemed eligible in Year 7 to Year 11. The Government has extended the coverage of the Pupil Premium in recognition of the traumatic experiences many adopted children have endured in their early lives and a realisation that their needs do not change overnight.

Please find below our details of our Pupil Premium Policy for 2014-15.

Lostock College 2014-2015

In the financial year 2014-2015 Lostock College will receive £ 110,142 Pupil Premium funding overall.

The DfE has given us the freedom to use the Pupil Premium as we see fit, based upon our knowledge of our pupil needs. However, we as a school are accountable for the use of this additional funding.

The Pupil Premium

The Pupil Premium is additional funding which is allocated to schools on the basis of the number of pupils who have been eligible for free school meals (FSM) at any point over the last six years (known as ‘Ever 6 FSM’) and Service Children including those who were eligible for the Service child premium at any point in the last three years (known as ‘Ever 3 Service Child’). Students in care, who have been looked after by local authorities for more than six months also continue to qualify for the Pupil Premium. The Pupil Premium is aimed at addressing the current underlying inequalities which exist between children from disadvantaged backgrounds and their more affluent peers.

The Pupil Premium was initially introduced in April 2011 when schools received an additional £488 for each of their pupils eligible for free school meals. In April 2012 this was increased to £623 and from April 2013 it was increased to £900 per eligible pupil. Children of service personnel receive a lower amount of £300.

Purpose of the Pupil Premium Policy

The purpose of this policy is to outline how we will ensure that the Pupil Premium allocated to us has an impact on narrowing the attainment gaps which currently exist between our disadvantaged pupils and their peers.

As a school in receipt of Pupil Premium funding, we are accountable to our parents and school community for how we are using this additional resource to narrow the achievement gaps of our pupils. New measures have been included in the performance tables published annually on a national level. They capture the achievement of disadvantaged pupils covered by the Pupil Premium.

We are aware that under The School Information (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012, Schedule 4 there is specified information which has to be to be published on a school’s website. Section 9 of this regulation requires schools to publish the amount of the school’s allocation from the Pupil Premium grant in respect of the current academic year; details of how it is intended that the allocation will be spent; details of how the previous academic year’s allocation was spent, and the effect of this expenditure on the educational attainment of those pupils at the school in respect of whom grant funding was allocated.

Through this policy we shall publish the above information. In meeting this requirement we will observe our continuing responsibilities under the Data Protection Act 1998, so that individuals or groups of individuals, including children funded through the Service Premium cannot be identified.

How we will make decisions regarding the use of Pupil Premium

In making decisions on the use of the Pupil Premium we will:

Ensure that Pupil Premium funding allocated to our school is used solely for its intended purpose. We also recognise that the Direct Schools Grant (DSG) has an element of deprivation funding included in it to address the attainment of our disadvantaged pupils

Use the latest evidence based research on proven strategies which work to narrow the attainment gaps and adapt these as necessary to meet the needs of our pupils

Be transparent in our reporting of how we have used the Pupil Premium, so that our parents, interested stakeholders and Ofsted are fully aware of how this additional resource has been used to make a difference

Encourage take up of Pupil Premium by working proactively with our parents and carers in a sensitive and supportive manner and to remove any potential barriers or stigma attached to claiming Pupil Premium. In doing so, we also recognise the vital role that parents and carers play in the lives of their children

Be mindful of the fact that eligibility and take up of Pupil Premium does not equate with pupils being considered to be of ‘low ability’ because of their social circumstances

Ensure there is robust monitoring and evaluation in place to account for the use of the Pupil Premium, by the school and governing body.

Recognise the fact that Pupil Premium pupils are not a homogeneous group and cover a wide range of needs. As such the strategies we use to raise attainment will take these group and individual needs fully into account
Use high quality teaching and learning as the preferred way to narrow the gaps in attainment in the first instance. We will also use high quality interventions with proven evidence of impact to assist our pupils who need additional support in a time limited way
Use the Pupil Premium for all year groups not just those taking examinations at the end of the year.

Development of the policy

In developing this policy we have taken into account our statutory responsibilities in meeting the requirements of the Equality Act 2010. Further information is available in our school’s Equal Opportunities Policy. The overlap with our Equal Opportunities Policy is in relation to how we are meeting the needs of our pupils who are covered under the ‘protected characteristics’ of the Equality Act. Some of these pupils, especially minority ethnic, English is an additional language, Special Educational Needs and pupils with disabilities can suffer from higher rates of disadvantage and therefore can have higher rates of eligibility for FSM. Where this is the case, we shall take these additional needs into account.

When developing this Pupil Premium Policy, we have also taken into account the Ofsted Inspection Framework 2014, which places a strong focus on improving the learning and progress of different groups and on narrowing gaps in standards. We also note that Ofsted has a statutory duty to report on the outcomes and provision for pupils who are disabled and those who have special educational needs.

Role and responsibilities

We expect all members of our school community, particularly staff and governors to be committed to raising standards and narrowing the attainment gaps for our pupils.

The school leadership team

Members of the SLT are responsible for implementing this policy. They will ensure that all staff are aware of their responsibilities in narrowing the gaps of our pupils. They will also ensure that staff are given appropriate support and relevant professional development opportunities to accelerate pupil’s progress and attainment. Through performance management arrangements, they will make sure narrowing the gaps is a priority area of focus for the school.

It will be the responsibility of the Headteacher to include the following information in the termly monitoring and evaluation report for Governors:

The progress made towards narrowing the gap, by year group, for disadvantaged pupils
An outline of the provision that has been made since the last annual report
An evaluation of the cost effectiveness, in terms of the progress made by the pupils receiving a particular provision, when compared with other forms of support

The School Business Manager and her assistant will monitor the use of the Pupil Premium on a weekly basis to track the allocation and use of Pupil Premium funding. She will also check to see that it is providing value for money.

Teaching and Support Staff

Through classroom teaching and additional support strategies, teaching and support staff will:

Maintain the highest expectations of all pupils and not equate disadvantage of circumstance with ‘low ability’

Promote an inclusive and collaborative ethos in their classrooms which enable pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds to thrive
Plan and deliver curricula and lessons to a high standard and support the acceleration of progress in learning, so that gaps can be narrowed and improvements maintained

Support disadvantaged groups of pupils in their class through differentiated planning and teaching, especially for those who find aspects of learning difficult and are in danger of falling behind

Keep up-to-date with teaching strategies and research, which have proven track record in narrowing the gaps in attainment and achievement

Provide opportunities for staff to engage in a range of professional development opportunities suited to their particular needs and role. This will support them in implementing successful strategies to accelerate progress of pupils and narrow the gaps

Evaluate the impact of Pupil Premium spend within their area of responsibility.

Governing Body

Our Governing Body has an important role in ensuring our school complies with legislation and that this policy, along with its specific stated actions for narrowing the gaps is implemented.

The Finance and Premises Committee is responsible for ensuring the implementation of this policy.

Our Governing Body will at least termly, keep our work in narrowing the gaps under review so that they can monitor the use of the Pupil Premium. In monitoring and evaluating the work of the school in relation to the Pupil Premium, the Governing Body will take into account a range of information, including quantitative (data on progress and attainment) and qualitative (case studies, views, surveys etc.) data as evidence of impact.

At the end of the academic year, our Governors will ensure that there is an annual statement to parents on how the Pupil Premium funding has been used to address the issue of narrowing the gaps in our school and the impact this has had.

Monitoring and reviewing the policy

Our work in relation to the Pupil Premium will be reviewed on a termly basis to ensure it is having the intended impact in narrowing the gaps. This will allow us to make adjustments if particular strategies are not working well, rather than leaving things to the end of the year.

Our Pupil Premium Policy will be reviewed on an annual basis and adjustments will be made to it according to the impact the school is having in narrowing the gaps. It will also take into consideration the increased funding that becomes available under the Pupil Premium Grant.

We recognise the importance of context and will evaluate new strategies as robustly as possible to ensure that the approaches we are using have the desired effect. In order to do this effectively, we will where relevant, undertake ongoing evaluations of the strategies we are using, such as that outlined in The DIY Evaluation Guide provided by the Education Endowment Foundation

http://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/uploads/pdf/EEF_DIY_Evaluation_Guide_(2013).pdf

Disseminating the Policy

This Pupil Premium policy along with the details of actions will be published: