Oakfield Community Primary School & Nursery

Pupil Premium

What is Pupil Premium?

At Oakfield Community Primary & Nursery School we have high aspirations and ambitions for all our children and we believe that no child should be left behind. We are determined that every child should be given the chance to realise their full potential, whatever their background. Approximately 50% of the children who attend our school are eligible for this funding. Pupil premium represents a significant proportion of our budget and our Policy outlines how it is spent to maximum effect.

Pupil premium is additional funding, from the government, provided to schools for supporting pupils from low income families to ensure they benefit from the same opportunities as all other children. Research shows that pupils from deprived backgrounds underachieve compared to their non-deprived peers. The premium is provided to enable schools to ‘close the gap’ in attainment.

There are three categories of children that qualify for pupil premium:

Children who are eligible for free school meals (FSM)
Looked after children
Armed forces children

Schools have the freedom to spend the Premium in a way they think will best support the raising of attainment for the most vulnerable pupils. All our staff and governors are committed to meeting all our children’s pastoral, social and academic needs within a caring environment. The targeted and strategic use of pupil premium will support us in achieving our vision.

Identification of barriers and challenges.

Delayed spoken language leads to under-performance in later life. Low starting points in language impact on spoken language skills, expressive vocabulary and early reading skills
Poor parental engagement in learning
Narrowing the attainment gap across Reading, Writing and Maths
Attendance and Punctuality issues.
Social, Emotional and Mental Health difficulties (children/parents/carers)

Attendance – We are working hard to maintain our attendance inline with the National Average of 96%
Working with families who experience challenges or difficulties
A whole school inclusive approach , that identifies pupils needs quickly and accurately, including any emerging and changing needs.

Principles

We seek to ensure that teaching and learning opportunities meet the needs of all of the pupils through

Ensure that the pupil premium strategy is implemented and monitored effectively, including through ongoing, high-quality training and support for staff.
Leaders and staff establish strategies that consistently enhance the opportunities and experiences of disadvantaged pupils
Leaders and staff rigorously monitor the progress of these pupils and consistently ensure that any barriers to success are swiftly and effectively addressed
Leaders make astute decisions about how the curriculum and teaching should adapt and evolve, based on their evidence and insight about how well pupils have learned what was intended
Leaders ensure that the curriculum is consistently taught well. Highly effective teaching is embedded across subjects and year groups. Teaching ensures that pupils consistently develop their language and vocabulary, both spoken and written, and increase their reading competency, across subjects.
Fostering independence skills so that children take responsibility for their own learning
A stable, consistent school environment where children feel safe
All school staff are involved in school improvement – a drive and capacity to continually improve through school development planning and school self-evaluation
We use research from the EEF ( Education Endowment Foundation) to support us in determining the strategies that will be most effective
All pupil premium children benefit from the funding, not just those who are underperforming

Commitment by Leadership team to:

Leaders provide meaningful opportunities for staff and governors to share perspectives and insights and collaborate throughout any change process.
Leaders use their detailed and insightful analysis of school performance to evaluate the effectiveness of their provision. They accurately identify, monitor and act on priorities for improvement, leading to consistently strong standards across all areas of the school’s work or rapid improvement in any areas where this is not the case.
Leaders at all levels make a consistently positive contribution to the school’s priorities and develop staff expertise as the key driver of improvement. They allocate enough time for staff to work together to achieve this. Staff understand their role in improving and sustaining standards and make a consistently positive contribution to this.
Leaders have developed a highly effective culture of professional learning and expertise in which staff take responsibility for their own learning and are keen to continually improve their expertise. Leaders ensure that there is a professional learning and expertise curriculum that is informed by the best available evidence, including research, and is precisely matched to priorities for whole-school improvement, subjects/teams/phases and individual needs.
Leaders have achieved a culture of high expectations and professionalism, which ensures a positive experience for all pupils.
Governors use their knowledge and expertise to provide consistent support and robust challenge to leaders across all aspects of the school’s work.
Leaders act in the best interest of pupils and their well-being. They ensure staff’s well-being is considered and ensure that their workload is manageable.

Provisions

The majority of our work through the pupil premium will be aimed at accelerating progress, moving children to at least age related expectations. Initially this will be in communication, English and maths.The range of provision the staff and Governors consider making for this group include:

Reducing whole class sizes:
Providing 1-1 and small group work with an experienced teacher or teaching assistant focused on overcoming gaps in learning;
Additional teaching and learning opportunities provided through trained TAs or external agencies, enabling personalised learning to accelerate progress for individuals
Provide a Familiy Support Worker and Mental Health Lead who will work and support families:

Providing a whole THRIVE school approach to support pupils SEMH (Social, Emotional and Mental Health) needs;
Work with families whose children’s attendance is below national average and also targeting families who are persistently absent or late;
In addition, the school recognises that the wider curriculum supports and enriches children’s development in communication, English and maths, and therefore funding will also be allocated to enable children to participate fully and actively in wider and extra-curricular activities; including class visits and residential;
Provide wrap around care at a low cost and a breakfast bagel for all pupils under the National School Breakfast Programme (NSBP);
Target all pupils who are prior higher attainers as well as prior lower attainers;
Provision will not be aimed at statemented children as funding for need is already in place.

Reporting

It will be the responsibility of the Pupil Premium Lead to report to the Governors on:

The progress made towards narrowing the gap, for socially disadvantaged pupils;
An outline of the provision that was made since the last meeting;
An evaluation of the cost effectiveness and impact of the provision in terms of the progress made by the pupils receiving a particular provision.
Parents will receive information as to the progress of pupils through end of term reports sent home and through parents evenings/ mornings during the academic year.