Pupil Premium

The Government recognises that students from families living in economic poverty tend to do less well in school. To combat this, they have introduced the Pupil Premium as additional funding to support these students in school. Children with parents in the Services are also in receipt of funding but we recognise their needs are distinct from students from a disadvantaged background. By disadvantaged, we mean students who receive Free School Meals (FSM); who previously received Free School Meals (Ever 6) and Children who are Looked After (LAC).

At Lavington School, we have an inclusive, ‘every child, every chance’ ethos and aim to deliver high quality teaching and learning for ALL students. For as long as it is available, Lavington will use this funding to put in place ambitious and aspirational plans aimed at ensuring that disadvantaged students make the best progress they possibly can.

Schools are free to spend the Pupil Premium Grant as they see fit and target spending on areas that are specific to reducing the impact of disadvantage in their own school environment.

Although the prime use of the funding provided is to raise attainment, as a school we feel it is important to the development of students’ ‘cultural capital’ as well as supporting them socially and emotionally. This enables students to achieve good qualifications, and also allows them to develop into rounded individuals. Some funds are used to remove obstacles to participation in activities and access to opportunities.

We also recognise that some interventions and opportunities we provide to groups can benefit other students who may be disadvantaged in some ways but not eligible for Pupil Premium funding. There is no requirement for the grant to be spent on individual students, rather the emphasis is on initiatives which are particularly focused on closing the attainment gap between these students and their peers. Therefore, some of the funding is used to provide extra staff, curriculum opportunities, intervention and support to meet the needs of disadvantaged students

Overall Objectives:

The Pupil Premium will be used to provide additional support to improve the progress and to raise the standards of achievement for disadvantaged pupils
The funding will be used to narrow the gap between these students and their peers.
As far as our influence allows, we will use the additional funding to address any underlying inequalities between children eligible for Pupil Premium and others. We will ensure that the funding reaches the students who need it most and that it makes a significant impact on their education, future destinations and lives.

The spending of the Pupil Premium funding will be split into 3 main categories;

Supporting the quality of teaching
Targeted academic support
Tackling non academic barriers – attendance, social and emotional support and behaviour.

We have identified 4 key challenges that will have a significant impact on achievement for 2022-23

They are:

1	Attendance of disadvantage students falling below that of non-disadvantaged for all years
2	Developing the level of literacy and numeracy across all years
3	Managing behaviour and engagement post Covid including overcoming significant Mental Health issues preventing engagement and progress
4	Engagement with Enrichment activities

We selected these based on:

Information provided by Primary schools both in and outside EQUA Trust on gaps to expected levels in Literacy and Numeracy for current Year 7 students and internal data
Information from Primary schools and internal attendance data following the challenging period of COVID19 and remote learning having impact on attendance and learning
Recorded increases in low level disruption and behaviour around the school following return to school life post remote learning. Increases in students requiring emotional and pastoral support recorded by pastoral leaders and managers
Following a period of almost non-existence of enrichment activities during 2020-2021, overcoming barriers to a return to high quality enrichment programme to enhance and support learning and experiences for our students outside the classroom

Strategies selected to achieve this will largely be in line with research carried out by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and our own experience of what has been successful over the past couple of years. Some of these strategies will be aimed at individual students and small groups and some at the whole cohort.

The aim of the funding is to close the gap in achievement between disadvantaged and non disadvantaged students. It is not possible to outline the specific progress of every student, but what we can say is that we will do everything possible to support students who need additional help. The range and nature of our support will be reviewed and analysed throughout the year and will be able to be viewed alongside our published data at the end of each academic year.

Pupil Premium Funding ExplainedIf you do require support for resources such as revision guides, trips and activities, uniform, please contact Mr Simon Down, Deputy Head and Designated Safeguarding Lead, who has oversight for vulnerable learners and can be contacted by email at s.down@lavington.wilts.sch.uk