Pupil Premium provision
Throughout this document the phrase Pupil Premium students is used to describe “students eligible for the Pupil Premium funding.” The government refer to these students as “disadvantaged students” but this terminology has been avoided below.
The Pupil Premium Co-ordinator at Larkmead School is Miss S Lewis who can be contacted via email: slewis@LAR.CambrianLT.org
What is the Pupil Premium?
The Pupil Premium is funding to improve education outcomes for eligible pupils in schools in England. Evidence shows that students eligible for the Pupil Premium funding generally face additional challenges in reaching their potential at school and often do not perform as well as other pupils.
The Government allocates funding to schools each year to cover the different aspects of the pupil premium. This money is not ascribed to individual students or ‘ring-fenced’, but schools should be using the funding to improve outcomes for the students in these cohorts. As well as funding for students who have been in receipt of free school meals at any point in the last six years, there are also allocations for pupils who have been adopted from care or have left care, as well as children who are looked after by the local authority. All schools are free to spend the pupil premium grant as they see fit, but will be held accountable for how they have used the additional funding by measures in the performance tables.
At Larkmead, we make decisions on how to collectively spend the funding by carefully identifying the individual needs of our students, right from when they join us. We have also made use of educational research to help identify good practice, with the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) recommending that schools particularly focus their pupil premium on supporting high-quality teaching. Evidence shows that the most effective schools narrow the achievement gap by using a combination of quality teaching, strong leadership and monitoring, a relevant and coherent curriculum, and targeted catch-up and enrichment activities. We intend to use the pupil premium grant to help us succeed in these key areas.
Who is eligible for Pupil Premium funding?
The following students are eligible for Pupil Premium funding. This information has been taken from this link.
- Students recorded as eligible for free school meals or have been recorded as eligible in the past six years.
- Previously looked-after children (pupils who were looked after by an English or Welsh local authority immediately before being adopted, or who left local authority care on a special guardianship order or child arrangements order (previously known as a residence order).
If you think your child qualifies for free school meals but currently does not receive them, please read the guidance here and contact the school office to discuss it further.
If your child has qualified for free school meals in the past six years but is no longer eligible and you think the school is not aware (perhaps due to the information not being passed on from Primary School), please contact the school office to discuss it further.
If you think your child is eligible for Pupil Premium funding due to being a previously looked after child and the school is not aware, please contact the school office to discuss it further.
Why is Pupil Premium important to us?
The school’s virtues of one community, individual minds and creating futures embody our overarching intention for each and every one of our students. As “one community” we value each member of the Larkmead family. “Individual minds” encourages personality and diversity, enabling each student to be themselves. “Creating futures” means inspiring ambition and resilience, with a focus on careers education, progression and destinations.
This is our intention for all of our students, irrespective of their background or the challenges they face, as we strive to ensure they all make good progress and achieve high attainment across the curriculum. The focus of our pupil premium strategy is to support Pupil Premium students in achieving this goal, including those who are already high attainers.
Our Aims & Objectives
- All Pupil Premium students will make at least expected progress, in line with national averages for students who are not eligible for Pupil Premium funding.
- All Pupil Premium students will have good attendance and behaviour, in line with national averages for students who are not eligible for Pupil Premium funding.
- All Pupil Premium students will be successful learners, provided with timely and accurate feedback on their learning and given additional support where required, particularly to develop their literacy and numeracy skills
What we are doing to Maximise Progress
Pupil Premium support at Larkmead School includes but is not limited to the following actions.
A Whole School Focus: A key part of our approach is to ensure that all staff are constantly aware of Pupil Premium students in their classes and who may need extra support and encouragement. This is reinforced with frequent input in staff meetings and sharing of good practice for these students.
Pupil Premium Co-ordination: The Pupil Premium Co-ordinator has been appointed to ensure support is in place when needed with our Pupil Premium students. They may also represent another point of contact, alongside your child’s form tutor and director of learning, if you need to contact the school. It is part of the Pupil Premium Coordinator’s role to raise the profile of all our Pupil Premium students within school, as well as introduce new interventions and initiatives, and carefully monitor the progress of our Pupil Premium students.
Support with School Supplies: All Pupil Premium students receive a stationery pack in Year 7 (including a scientific calculator) to ensure they make the best start possible to their academic studies. Support with the sourcing of school uniform may be available on request, but is subject to availability. Support with other school equipment and resources that are required by all students may also be available on request.
ICT Support: The school have a fantastic supply of laptops that we can loan to students without computer access at home. These are intended to help with the completion of homework and independent revision and are fully connected to the school’s network. Please contact your child’s Director of learning if this would be beneficial.
Curriculum Support: Pupil Premium students are encouraged to attend PowerHour or Homework club, available from 3:15 until 4:30 afterschool on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Although open to all students wishing to attend, bespoke support is offered to Pupil Premium students if required. In addition, priority consideration is given to Pupil Premium students when assigning reading and numeracy interventions at KS3 and mentoring at KS4 as we recognise the importance that these interventions have on the learning of our students. We are committed to working in close collaboration with all our parents and, as such, priority booking is given to Pupil Premium students at each PTCE.
Support with Educational Visits: Payment plans and subsidised rates are available for curriculum visits, in particular our hugely popular PGL visit in Year 7. Funding of this sort is offered on a case-by-case basis, to ensure that Pupil Premium students are not excluded from activities due to financial constraints, but support available will always be dependent on demand. The amount of money being accessed by each student is recorded so that impact can be measured effectively. Consideration will also be given for support for extra-curricular visits – please request this and a decision will be made, again on a case-by-case basis.
Student Voice: Pupil Premium students are used for student voice in school to ensure their views on their environment and learning are heard and change is immediately beneficial.
How we are Monitoring our Progress
The following actions allow us, as a school, to effectively monitor the progress of our Pupil Premium students and quickly react to achieve the best possible outcomes.
- Appointment of a Pupil Premium Co-ordinator responsible for raising the attainment of our Pupil Premium students.
- Clear analysis of tracking data at both group and individual level to help us monitor student progress against cohort and national performance.
- Rigorous, regular work samples and interviews with students to monitor the impact of teaching and assessment on the progress of Pupil Premium students.
- Raising Achievement Panels, focussed on numeracy and literacy, to highlight students who are underachieving in these key areas.
- Clear monitoring of attendance and behaviour data to inform future interventions.
The Pupil Premium Co-ordinator will, with the Leadership Group, report to Governors on the spending of the Pupil Premium funding and also provide an evaluation of the impact of the interventions. Each year, a report will also be published to parents via the school website on how the Pupil Premium grant has been spent.