Pupil Premium Statement

Detail

Data

Number of pupils in school

421 (482 with nursery)

Proportion (%) of pupil premium eligible pupils

12%

Academic year/years that our current pupil premium strategy plan covers (3-year plans are recommended – you must still publish an updated statement each academic year)

2024/25 – 2026/27

Date this statement was published

31/12/2024

Date on which it will be reviewed

December 2025

Statement authorised by

Paula Phillips

Head Teacher

Pupil premium lead

Clare Hodges

Deputy Head Teacher

Governor / Trustee lead

Laura Parnham

Pupil Premium Lead Governor

Detail

Amount

Pupil premium funding allocation this academic year

£ 84,059

Pupil premium funding carried forward from previous years (enter £0 if not applicable)

£0

Total budget for this academic year

£84,059

Our intention is that all pupils, irrespective of their background or the challenges they face, make good progress and achieve high attainment across the curriculum offered at East Wichel Primary School. The focus of our pupil premium strategy is to support all disadvantaged pupils to achieve that goal irrespective of their starting points.

When making decisions about using Pupil Premium funding it is important to consider the context of our school and the subsequent challenges faced. Research conducted by EEF and other validated external sources is used to support decisions around the usefulness of different strategies and their value for money that we will use at East Wichel Primary School.

We will consider the challenges faced by vulnerable pupils, such as those who have a social worker, are young carers, have special educational needs and/or disabilities and have English as an additional language. 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 school 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 diagnostic assessment, 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

Challenge number

Detail of challenge

1

Identifying Eligible Pupils – Some families may not claim benefits that make them eligible for free school meals (FSM), leading to underfunding.

2

Parental Engagement – Some parents of disadvantaged pupils may be harder to engage with, affecting attendance, homework completion, and overall support at home.

3

Attendance and Well-being – Disadvantaged pupils may have lower attendance rates, affecting their learning, and they may require additional pastoral support.

4

Staff Training and Capacity – Teachers and support staff may need additional training to deliver effective interventions, but this requires time and resources.

5

Balancing Individual Needs – Pupil Premium funding supports a group of pupils with diverse needs, including SEND, EAL (English as an Additional Language), and social-emotional difficulties. A "one-size-fits-all" approach may not work.

Intended outcome

Success criteria

Closing the Attainment Gap: Disadvantaged pupils achieve in line with their non-disadvantaged peers in core subjects (reading, writing, and maths).

Increase the percentage of disadvantaged pupils achieving age-related expectations (ARE) or greater depth in core subjects

Improving Literacy and Numeracy:

Improved reading, writing, and mathematical fluency for disadvantaged pupils.

Increase phonics screening pass rates and improve key stage progress scores in maths and literacy

Enhancing Attendance and Reducing Persistent Absenteeism:

Attendance of disadvantaged pupils improves to be in line with the national average or above.

Reduce persistent absenteeism among disadvantaged pupils to below 4%

Supporting Social, Emotional, and Mental Health (SEMH):

Disadvantaged pupils receive emotional and pastoral support to improve well-being and readiness to learn.

Increased engagement in school and reduced behavioural incidents.

Increasing Parental Engagement

Intended Outcome:

Parents of disadvantaged pupils are actively engaged in their child’s learning and school life.

More parents attending workshops, parents reading with children at home, and higher attendance at school meetings.

Activity

Evidence that supports this approach

Challenge number(s) addressed

Continue to use a DfE validated Systematic Synthetic Phonics programme to secure stronger phonics teaching for all pupils (Read Write Inc)

This includes the ongoing cost of online training materials and face to face training for all teachers and TAs

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:

Phonics | Toolkit Strand | Education Endowment Foundation | EEF

1, 2, 4, 5

Improve the quality of social and emotional (SEL) learning.

SEL approaches will be embedded into routine educational practices and supported by professional development and training for staff.

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):

Improving_Social_and_Emotional_ Learning in Primary Schools | EEF

3, 4, 5

Enhancement of our English teaching and curriculum planning in line with DfE and EEF guidance.

We will fund teacher release time to embed key elements of guidance in school.

We will fund the purchase of further high quality texts so children reading novels will continue to have 1 copy each.

The EEF guidance is based on a range of the best available evidence:

https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/guidance-reports/literacy-ks-1

https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/guidance-reports/literacy-ks2

4, 5

Activity

Evidence that supports this approach

Challenge number(s) addressed

One to one and small group tuition in core subjects for pupils in need of additional support, delivered in addition to, and linked with, usual lessons.

Tutoring, delivered by TAs,  will be implemented with the help of DfE’s guide:

Tutoring: guidance for education settings

Online Learning Platforms will be used where appropriate to personalise learning and target individuals’ gaps.

Tuition targeted at specific needs and knowledge gaps can be an effective method to support low attaining pupils or those falling behind:

One to one tuition | Teaching and Learning Toolkit | EEF

Small group tuition | Teaching and Learning Toolkit | EEF

2, 3, 4, 5

Additional phonics sessions targeted at disadvantaged pupils who require further phonics support using RWI Fast Track tutoring and Freshstart tutoring for Upper KS2.

Phonics approaches have a strong evidence base indicating a positive impact on pupils, particularly from disadvantaged backgrounds. Targeted phonics interventions have been shown to be more effective when delivered as regular sessions over a period up to 12 weeks:

Phonics | Toolkit Strand | Education Endowment Foundation | EEF

2, 3, 4, 5

Improve the quality of social and emotional (SEL) learning.

SEL approaches will be embedded into routine educational practices and supported by professional development and training for staff. One of the ways of implementing this will be through Forest School.

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):

Improving_Social_and_Emotional_ Learning in Primary Schools | EEF

Small group tuition | Teaching and Learning Toolkit | EEF

3, 4, 5

Activity

Evidence that supports this approach

Challenge number(s) addressed

Embedding principles of good practice set out in the DfE’s Working Together to improve school attendance

This will take a graduated approach that involves all staff. We will also use specialised support from and Educational Psychologist working with a focus on emotional based school non attendance (EBSNA)

Our school Family Support Worker will use the Early Help Conversation Framework to offer support to families.

The DfE guidance has been informed by engagement with schools that have significantly reduced levels of absence and persistent absence.

1,2,3,5

Whole staff training on trauma informed approaches with the aim of developing this as part of our school ethos.

Both targeted interventions and universal approaches can have positive overall effects:

Trauma Informed Approach

3, 4, 5

Plan parent workshops so parents are aware of how to support their children at home with their learning.

The DfE states that parental engagement has a positive impact on average of 4 months’ additional progress.  Parental Engagement

1, 2, 5

Contingency fund for acute issues. For example this could be used to pay for school visits where families are unable to pay a voluntary contribution.

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.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Improved oral language skills and vocabulary among disadvantaged pupils.

Pupils eligible for PP in FS2 and KS1 made good progress over the three-year plan. At the end of the last academic year 100% of disadvantaged pupils in EYFS achieved the ELG in listening, attention and understanding as well as speaking in the Communication strand. Read Write Inc continues to have a positive impact on pupils’ language development as well as reading and writing skills. Pupils who came from our nursery into reception showed an advantage in being previously exposed to Read Write Inc materials and were able to use this knowledge to accelerate progress.

Improved phonics attainment among disadvantaged pupils.

Phonics attainment continues to show a positive picture and has improved over the three-year plan. There continues to be less pupils who are identified as disadvantaged in FS2 and KS1. 98% of all pupils in FS2 reached the required standard for phonics at the end of the last academic year. Disadvantaged pupils in KS1 all reached the expected standard in the phonic screening check apart from two pupils; one who continues to receive support in year 2 and another in year 3.

Improved writing attainment among disadvantaged pupils.

Writing attainment has improved across the school in general over the time of the three-year plan. In FS2 98% of the cohort met the ELG for writing at the end of the last academic year. In KS1 38% of disadvantaged pupils (3 out of 8) achieved the expected standard by the end of year 2 which is an increase of 13% from the previous year.  In KS2 disadvantaged pupils in year 3, 4 and 5 mostly met the expected standard. In year 6 53% of disadvantaged pupils met the expected standard for writing. Where pupils have had more years accessing Read Write Inc comprehension or Read Write Inc Spelling there is an improvement in spelling and grammar knowledge and ability. This is demonstrated by the high scores for the Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling test where 91% of the cohort achieved the expected standard and 48% of these pupils achieving greater depth.

To achieve and sustain improved wellbeing for all pupils in our school, particularly our disadvantaged pupils.

The impact of Covid 19 continued to impact a considerable number of pupils over the course of the three-year plan. Utilising our Family Support Worker has helped to support individual pupils, groups of pupils and families. This has been through Early Help Conversations and plans, signposting and liaising with other agencies such as social care, housing support, various charities and food banks. The continued implementation of our PSHE scheme, Kapow, has also helped to support pupils with social and emotional learning as well as embedding good practices such as gratitude and breathing techniques into everyday life at East Wichel.

To achieve and sustain improved attendance and punctuality for all pupils, particularly our disadvantaged pupils.         

Punctuality was good amongst the majority of disadvantaged pupils and where it was a concern our Family Support Worker has worked with families to identify the barriers and put support in place to help. Attendance was still adversely impacted by Covid 19, towards the beginning of the three-year plan, for a variety of reasons including contracting Covid 19, families visiting home countries to see relatives that they have been unable to see because of Covid 19 and prolonged illnesses that were not Covid 19 but resilience to illness seems to have been affected in both staff and pupils. However we are now seeing a decrease in absence rates with the academic year 2022 – 2023 at 5.8% absence with persistent absence at 15.3% whilst currently for this academic year our figures are 4.6 for absence and 10.5% persistently absent.

Programme

Provider

Read Write Inc Phonics

Read Write Inc

Read Write Inc Comprehension

Read Write Inc

Read Write Inc Spellings

Read Write Inc

For schools that receive this funding, you may wish to provide the following information: How our service pupil premium allocation was spent last academic year

Same outcomes as above.

The impact of that spending on service pupil premium eligible pupils

Same impact as above.