Pupil Premium

Outline

The Pupil Premium Grant (PPG) is additional funding given to the school to raise the attainment of pupils in Years 3 to 11 who:

• have been registered for free school meals (FSM) at any point in the last 6 years
• are in public care or have been adopted (LAC)
• currently have a parent in the armed forces or a parent has worked for the armed forces within the last three years (MOD)

Statistics show that nationally these students are being outperformed academically by their peers, which is also the case at the David Nieper Academy. Therefore, the money is used to target any learning barriers or inequalities this cohort may experience, as we strive to close this attainment gap.

A grant is also given for children with parents serving in the armed forces or who have been within the last 4 years. This is used to minimise the impact continuous geographical mobility can have on their social development, emotional well-being and academic achievement.

Ethos

Our goal is to enable all students eligible for the Pupil Premium to achieve their full potential; their academic attainment, while very important, is not our sole concern. Primarily we look to their emotional stability and wellbeing, as until children are content and feel they have a secure base in the school we believe they will struggle to make significant progress in the classroom.

We are conscious of the fact that learning isn’t all about results. It is rarely the same for different individuals and it can take a long time to establish techniques that work. Sometimes seeing and experiencing things outside of the syllabus provides the bedrock that enables them to flourish.

Objectives in spending the PPG

• The school recognises that the Pupil Premium is additional to main school funding and so aim to use it to target underlying inequalities between eligible children and their peers.
• The achievement and attainment of all eligible pupils are tracked to ensure that the funding reaches the pupils who need it most, providing relevant interventions.
• To promote and support teaching improvement schemes in line with the school’s development priority of raising achievement via advancements in first teaching.

Strategies for spending the PPG

• The PPG is clearly identifiable within the budget.
• The Pupil Premium Coordinator, in consultation with other staff members, decides how the Pupil Premium is spent; assessing what additional provision should be made to best benefit eligible individuals.
• Its spending and impact are regularly reviewed by the governors.
• It helps further develop strategies and interventions which can improve the progress and attainment of the students covered by the PPG.
• The school is accountable for how it has used the funding and reports to the governing body and parents the efficacy of its spending, being made fully aware of the attainment of PP students.
• The impact of the strategies funded by the grant will be tracked to ensure that they are adding value to the education of those involved.
• The school will monitor, evaluate and review the impact of its use of the PPG.

How the academy uses the PPG

• We evaluate the emotional state of these pupils to provide a bespoke network of support and a secure environment in which each individual has the best chance of achieving their full potential.
• It funds a programme of auxiliary educational support for eligible students who are not progressing academically as quickly as the rest of their cohort. This helps raise their attainment and ultimately narrows this attainment gap.

Year 7 Catch Up Premium

Catch up premium is additional funding from the government to support Year 7 pupils who underachieved at the end of Key Stage 2. This funding is no longer available after the 2019/20 academic year.

How David Nieper Academy will use its Pupil Premium Funding

This is an exciting year for all those involved in the allocation and coordination of the PPG as the academy focuses its efforts on amalgamating all of the departments responsible for the care, attainment and achievement of all vulnerable or disadvantaged students. This will be under the leadership of Mrs Emma Merchant, Assistant Headteacher, Pastoral.

Those running interventions will be accountable to monitor and analyse the impact of what they have done to guide future practice. We will collate all of the data generated by the intervention program and track the attainment of the PP pupils to report the efficacy of the spending of the grant.

This should ensure that the attainment gap between Pupil Premium students and the rest of the cohort is narrowed this academic year.

2021-2024 – Pupil Premium Strategy Statement

2021-2022 – Pupil Premium Review