This statement details our school’s use of pupil premium (and recovery premium for the 2021 to 2022 academic year) funding to help improve the attainment of our disadvantaged pupils. It outlines our pupil premium strategy, how we intend to spend the funding in this academic year and the effect that last year’s spending of pupil premium had within our school. The total budgeted cost is £106,615.
School overview
School name
Peninsula East Primary Academy
Number of pupils in school
227
Proportion (%) of pupil premium eligible pupils
26%
Academic year/years that our current pupil premium strategy plan covers (3 year plans are recommended)
2021/22 – 2024/25
Date this statement was published
September 2023
Date on which it will be reviewed
September 2024
Statement authorised by
Lorna Rimmer – Principal
Pupil premium lead
Chloe Brading – Assistant Principal
Governor / Trustee lead
Pat Sanford
funding overview
Detail
Amount
Pupil premium funding allocation this academic year
£96,030
Recovery premium funding allocation this academic year
£10,585
Pupil premium funding carried forward from previous years
£0
Total budget for this academic year
£106,615
part a: pupil premium strategy plan
statement of intent
At Peninsula East Primary Academy we want to ensure that all pupils, irrespective of their background or the challenges they face, make good progress and achieve high attainment across all subject areas. The focus of our pupil premium strategy is to support disadvantaged pupils to achieve that goal and become lifelong learners, preparing them for life beyond primary school.
We will consider the challenges faced by vulnerable pupils, such as those who have experienced trauma. What we have outlined in this statement is also intended to support their needs, regardless of whether they are disadvantaged or not.
High-quality teaching and a varied and enriching curriculum is at the heart of our approach as well as giving them the skills to work online, 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.
Our strategy is also integral to wider school plans for education recovery, notably in its targeted support through the National Tutoring Programme for pupils whose education has been worst affected, including non-disadvantaged pupils and to really pinpoint the gaps that need to be filled for these children to be able to succeed.
Our approach will be responsive to common challenges and individual needs, rooted in robust diagnostic assessment and a personalised curriculum. 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
- ensure disadvantaged pupils are able to take part in the wider co-curriculum and to attend trips to enrich the curriculum
challenges
This details the key challenges to achievement that we have identified among our disadvantaged pupils.
Challenge Number
Detail of Challenge
1
Assessments, observations, and discussions with pupils indicate underdeveloped oral language skills and vocabulary gaps among many disadvantaged pupils. These are evident from Reception through to KS2 and in general, are more prevalent among our disadvantaged pupils than their peers.
2
Our assessments and observations indicate that the education and wellbeing of many of our disadvantaged pupils have been impacted by partial school closures to a greater extent than for other pupils. These findings are supported by national studies.
This has resulted in significant knowledge gaps leading to pupils falling further behind age-related expectations, especially in writing.
3
Our assessments (including wellbeing survey), observations and discussions with pupils and families have identified social and emotional issues for many pupils, notably due to a lack of enrichment opportunities during school closure. These challenges particularly affect disadvantaged pupils, including their attainment.
Teacher referrals for support have markedly increased during the pandemic.
intended outcomes
This explains the outcomes we are aiming for by the end of our current strategy plan, and how we will measure whether they have been achieved.
Intended Outcome
Success Criteria
Improved oral language skills and vocabulary among disadvantaged pupils.
Assessments and observations indicate significantly improved oral language among disadvantaged pupils. This is evident when triangulated with other sources of evidence, including engagement in lessons, book scrutiny and ongoing formative assessment.
To achieve and sustain improved wellbeing for all pupils in our school, particularly our disadvantaged pupils.
Sustained high levels of wellbeing from 2024/25 demonstrated by:
- qualitative data from student voice, student and parent surveys and teacher observations
- a significant increase in participation in enrichment activities, particularly among disadvantaged pupils
Improved writing attainment for disadvantaged pupils at the end of KS2.
KS2 writing outcomes in 2024/25 show that 23% of disadvantaged pupils met the expected standard.
Improved reading attainment for disadvantaged pupils at the end of KS2.
KS2 reading outcomes in 2024/25 show that 20% of disadvantaged pupils met the expected standard.
activity in this academic year
This details how we intend to spend our pupil premium (and recovery premium funding) this academic year to address the challenges listed above.
Teaching (for example, CPD, recruitment and retention)
Budgeted cost: £56,900
Activity
Evidence that supports this approach
Challenge number(s) addressed
Professional development on evidence-based approaches, for example feedback, metacognition, reading comprehension, phonics or mastery learning
There is extensive evidence to suggest that in providing opportunities for all to attend evidence-based professional development through using resources such as IRIS and The National College.
Improve the quality of social and emotional (SEL) learning through the use of Thrive as a whole school approach.
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):
EEF_Social_and_Emotional_Learning.pdf
(educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk)
Purchase of standardised diagnostic assessments.
Training for staff to ensure assessments are interpreted and administered correctly.
Standardised tests can provide reliable insights into the specific strengths and weaknesses of each pupil to help ensure they receive the correct additional support through interventions or teacher instruction:
Standardised tests | Assessing and Monitoring Pupil Progress | Education Endowment Foundation | EEF
Embedding dialogic activities across the school curriculum. These can support pupils to articulate key ideas, consolidate understanding and extend vocabulary.
We will purchase resources and fund ongoing teacher training and release time.
There is a strong evidence base that suggests oral language interventions, including dialogic activities such as high-quality classroom discussion, are inexpensive to implement with high impacts on reading:
Oral language interventions | Toolkit Strand | Education Endowment Foundation | EEF
Enhancement of our writing 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 and to access writing resources and CPD.
The EEF guidance is based on a range of the best available evidence:
https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/guidance-reports/literacy-ks2
https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/guidance-reports/literacy-ks-1
targeted academic support
For example, tutoring, one-to-one support, structured interventions.
Budgeted cost: £29,715.
Activity
Evidence that supports this approach
Challenge number(s) addressed
Engaging with the National Tutoring Programme to provide a blend of tuition, mentoring and school-led tutoring for pupils whose education has been most impacted by the pandemic. A significant proportion of the pupils who receive tutoring will be disadvantaged, including those who are high attainers.
Tuition targeted at specific needs and knowledge gaps can be an effective method to support low attaining pupils or those falling behind, both one-to-one:
One to one tuition | EEF (educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk)
And in small groups:
Small group tuition | Toolkit Strand | Education Endowment Foundation | EEF
Robust interventions to improve listening, narrative and vocabulary skills for disadvantaged pupils who have relatively low spoken language skills.
Oral language interventions can have a positive impact on pupils’ language skills. Approaches that focus on speaking, listening and a combination of the two show positive impacts on attainment:
Oral language interventions | EEF (educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk)
Robust interventions to improve reading and comprehension skills for disadvantaged pupils who have relatively reading outcomes.
wider strategies
For example, related to attendance, behaviour, wellbeing.
Budgeted cost: £20,000.
Activity
Evidence that supports this approach
Challenge number(s) addressed
Whole staff training on Thrive approaches with the aim of developing our school ethos and improving behaviour and well-being across school, enabling our children to be ready to learn.
Both targeted interventions and universal approaches can have positive overall effects:
Behaviour interventions | EEF (educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk)
Attendance tracking and whole school rewards for to ensure that disadvantaged children are attending school with no missed learning.
part b: review of outcomes in the previous academic year
pupil premium strategy outcomes
This details the impact that our pupil premium activity had on pupils in the 2022 to 2023 academic year.
Our internal assessments during 2022/23 across the school suggested that the performance of disadvantaged pupils continued to be lower in key areas of the curriculum. Despite some positive movement in outcomes for some of our disadvantaged children, there still needs to be a focus on these children so that they are at the same stage as their non-disadvantaged peers.
Our assessment of the reasons for these outcomes points primarily to the impact of Covid-19, which disrupted all our subject areas to varying degrees. As evidenced in schools across the country, school closure was most detrimental to our disadvantaged pupils, and they were not able to benefit from our pupil premium funded improvements to teaching and targeted interventions to the degree we had intended. The impact was mitigated by our resolution to maintain a high quality curriculum, including during periods of partial closure, which was aided by use of online resources and the access to online teaching.
Our assessments and observations indicated that pupil behaviour, wellbeing and mental health were significantly impacted last year, primarily due to COVID-19-related issues. The impact was particularly acute for disadvantaged pupils.
We used pupil premium funding to provide wellbeing support for all pupils, and targeted interventions where required. We are building on that approach with the activities detailed in this plan.
Looking at the locality of our children and bearing in mind the cost of living crisis and this impact on our disadvantaged children, we have needed to not only put in interventions for mental health and well-being but also for key subject areas to fill gaps and for our children to make rapid progress.
| 1. Ensure that all staff in KS1 have accessed training with the Medway Maths Hub around Early Number and that in working with the hub Teaching for Mastery is embedded in all year groups. |
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2. Ensure that all staff are proficient in the use of Phonics International to enable them to deliver the phonics scheme effectively. |
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3. Ensuring staff use evidence-based whole – class teaching interventions. |
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4. Ensure that disadvantaged children are accessing our co-curricular offer and attending school. |