Pupil Premium

Pupil Premium Link Governor:  Mr M Bodha
(0151 477 8860/office@lordderbyacademy.co.uk)

What is the Pupil Premium? 

The Pupil Premium is a grant given by the government to schools in England to decrease the attainment gap for the most disadvantaged children.

Each pupil who has been registered as eligible for free school meals at any point in the last 6 years attracts this funding.  As part of this funding, we also receive funding for pupils who have ceased to be looked after by a Local Authority in England and Wales because of adoption, a special guardianship order or child arrangement order. It is then for Lord Derby Academy to decide how this money is best spent to have the maximum impact on overall pupil achievement and experience.  The school also receives funding for Looked After Children (LAC). The LAC premium is managed by the designated virtual school head (VSH) in the local authority that looks after the child, and used for the benefit of the looked-after child’s educational needs as described in their personal education plan.

Free School Meals- is your child eligible?

School meals are free for your child or children if you receive:

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
• An income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Child Tax Credit and have an annual income of £16,190 or less (but not if you are in work and receive Working Tax Credit)
• The guarantee element of State Pension Credit
• Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• Universal Credit, provided you have an annual net earned income not exceeding £7,400 (£616.67 a month)

For more information and to apply for Free School Meals please click here: how to apply for Free School Meal

How much is the Pupil Premium? 

In the 2021to 2022 financial year, Lord Derby Academy will receive £1035 for each pupil who has been registered as eligible for free school meals at any point in the last 6 years and £2,530 for each pupil who has been adopted from care or have left care.  Our budget Pupil Premium budget is £ 551,665.  We also receive separate funding for Looked After Children – children defined in the Children Act 1989 as children who are in care of, or provided with accommodation by an English local authority.  This funding is monitored separately by the SENDCo and the Head of Virtual School.

Alongside the Pupil Premium funding, the school will receive a recovery premium– £145 per pupil eligible for the Pupil Premium.

How many pupils at Lord Derby Academy are currently eligible for the Pupil Premium? 

Why is the Pupil Premium so important?

Our school’s aim is to expose our pupils to as many opportunities as possible, ensure they receive excellent teaching from inspirational teachers and nurture a ‘can do’ attitude.  In short, we want to enable all our pupils, regardless of socio-economic background, to be provided with the opportunities to succeed in life. Any financial barriers that exist should be alleviated by the premium; pupils who are in receipt of the Pupil Premium should have the same opportunities as their peers.

What are the barriers some our pupils may be facing?

The pupils that are eligible for the pupil premium are not a homogenous group of young people therefore a range of barriers is to be expected.  We cannot make assumptions about our pupils and their home lives; it is also important to be aware that their situations can change. We need a detailed analysis of the academic and social profile of each of the disadvantaged pupils who are underperforming, together with an assessment of potential barriers to learning and knowledge of their “motivators”.  The impact of lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic on our pupils is also an important factor this year, if not the most important. Profiling our pupils helps us identify target groups in each year group to work with through short, sharp interventions ranging from one-day events, to ten-week programmes.  All stakeholders, including canteen staff, are involved in establishing barriers and motivators and have identified 7 main barriers:

• Accessing the curriculum can be difficult due to gaps in vocabulary and reading & numeracy skills. Access can also be limited through lack of resources (e.g. an electronic device -other than a mobile phone- to access Google Classroom, on-line textbooks and other software purchased by the school; subject specific resources such as an instrument for GCSE music, bilingual dictionaries, Art materials etc.). Low cultural capital (exposure to cultural experiences and background knowledge that those from more affluent homes take for granted) can also be a barrier to accessing the curriculum (accessing some GCSE papers at times requires a cultural capital some pupils do not have).  Some pupils also display difficulty with retaining information.
• Pupils’ confidence and self-reliance as learners can prevent them from building and deepening their knowledge base. Complex home situations and a lack of resources for disadvantaged pupils can limit learning at home. In some cases, this has been exacerbated as a result of lockdown.
• Compliance in lessons rather than active engagement in learning.
• Many disadvantaged pupils do not have as many opportunities to embrace a wider cultural curriculum and experiences in order to become “super literate” in school and in the later stages of their lives.
• Lack of cultural capital and experiences for some pupils mean that their aspirations and drive to do well are capped. We have seen evidence of this over the years with, for example, Higher Prior Attainers whose aspirations do not always match their ability.
• The lifestyles, especially sleep, diet, routines and home support mean that a proportion of disadvantaged pupils do not succeed in line with their peers. In turn, the attendance of disadvantaged pupils often lags behind that of their non- disadvantaged peers.

How is the Pupil Premium spent at Lord Derby Academy?

The strategy for Lord Derby Academy is due to be published shortly. The Government has indicated that schools need to publish the strategy by 31 December 2023 to take the needs of the school’s new intake into account. The use of the Pupil Premium and Recovery Premium will be reported as a single sum in Lord Derby Academy’s  strategy statement.

What is Lord Derby Academy’s approach to the Pupil Premium Grant (PPG) Spending?

We believe in maximising the use of the PPG by utilising a long-term strategy aligned to the School Improvement Plan and the newly created Catch-up Premium funding plan. This enables us to implement a blend of short, medium and long-term interventions, and align pupil premium use with wider school improvements.  There is no simple answer to helping disadvantaged pupils achieve.   We recognise that disadvantaged pupils cannot be treated as a homogeneous group who have similar needs and barriers.  Although the barriers we have identified apply to a wide range of pupils, one size-fits-all interventions are not always the most cost effective. Disadvantaged pupils share the pupil premium eligibility criteria but their individual circumstances are shaped by a multitude of factors including family values, socio-cultural influences and geography.  Our approach to the PPG therefore derives from a range of sources:

• Ofsted reports
• The impact of lockdown on pupils’ learning and emotional/physical wellbeing
• LDA’s school improvement plan
• LDA’s pupils’ individual barriers
• Reflections on impact of previous years’ spending
• The OFSTED framework (2021) and wider research. We use the findings of bodies such as the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) or current educational research to guide our thinking and review our practice (Click here to see the research we have considered to inform our strategy)
• Validated data analysis (e.g. validated GCSE results, attendance %)

Quotes that are specifically about disadvantaged pupils from our most recent OFSTED report (2019)

• Disadvantaged pupils’ progress is improving, but varies between and within subjects. As with other pupils, disadvantaged pupils’ progress is hampered when they receive insufficient challenge.
• Pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, attend school regularly. They are punctual to lessons.
• As a result of the good careers guidance programme, almost all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, move on to further education or training.
• The actions taken to support those with lower than average levels of literacy and numeracy to catch up by the end of Year 7 are
• Evidence from pupils’ work shows that despite an upward trend overall, the progress of disadvantaged pupils is too varied. Where pupils receive sufficient challenge, such as in English and drama, disadvantaged pupils make stronger progress, but this is not reflected in other subjects.
• Leaders monitor effectively the quality of education for pupils who attend alternative provision. They ensure that these pupils benefit from an appropriate curriculum that prepares them effectively for the next stage of their education.
• A high proportion of pupils, including those who are disadvantaged or with SEND, move on to the courses of their choice after leaving the school.

Setting priorities is key to maximising the use of the Pupil Premium Grant.  Our priorities are as follows and reflect those on our School Improvement Plan:

• Priority 1- Develop effective Teaching to close the gap. This includes a focus on quality remote learning and professional development to support staff in this area. Effective diagnostic assessment is also key.
• Priority 2- Use curriculum freedoms to help close the gap and “enable pupils to acquire knowledge that takes them beyond their own experiences” (Young et all, 2014)
• Priority 3- Develop “Behaviour for Progress” so pupils are committed to their learning, are resilient to setbacks and take pride in their achievements

To meet these 3 priorities, we have adopted a tiered approach to PPG spending, as recommended by the EEF (2019) to ensure spending is both balanced and focused. Spending priorities are as follows:

How does Lord Derby Academy monitor and evaluate the impact of funding?

 The impact of the pupil premium for all year groups is tracked every data input from staff across a variety of quantitative and qualitative sources including:

• Validated external data (e.g. attendance data, examination results)
• Internal academic data tracking including the success of intervention programmes every half term
• Looking at engagement in after school interventions, clubs and trips
• Tracking of attendance
• Looking at participation of disadvantaged pupils in pupil leadership activities and in all pupil voice consultations
• 1:1 meetings with key leaders, red/amber/green rating the aspects of the Pupil Premium plan they are responsible for after in depth discussion, analysis proforma
• Governors’ meetings and reports and LDA scrutiny & monitoring
• Each year, we review our impact and use this to inform our plans

To support with our evaluation, we have set targets on our School Improvement Plan which we use in our monitoring meetings with leaders.

Roles and expectations

We expect all members of our school community to be committed to raising standards and narrowing the attainment gaps for our pupils.  The Deputy Headteacher is responsible for implementing the Pupil Premium Strategy. He will ensure that all staff are aware of their responsibilities in narrowing the gaps of our pupils. He will also ensure that staff are given appropriate support and relevant professional development opportunities to accelerate pupils’ progress and attainment.

It will be the responsibility of the Headteacher to include the following information in the annual report for Governors:

• the progress made towards narrowing the gap, by year group, for disadvantaged pupils
• an outline of the provision that has been made since the last annual report
• an evaluation of the strategy

The Finance Director will monitor the use of the Pupil Premium Grant and Recovery Premium on a regular basis to track the allocation and use of pupil premium funding in order to see that it is providing value for money.

Governors

The governing body has an important role in ensuring our school complies with legislation and that this strategy, along with its specific stated actions for narrowing the gaps is implemented. The governing body will keep our work in narrowing the gaps under review so that they can monitor the use of the Pupil Premium. In monitoring and evaluating the work of the school in relation to the Pupil Premium, the governing body will consider a range of information, including quantitative (data on progress and attainment) and qualitative (case studies, views, surveys etc.) data as evidence of impact.

Teaching staff role

We will provide opportunities for staff to engage in a range of professional development opportunities suited to their particular needs and role. This will support them in implementing successful strategies to accelerate progress of pupils and narrow the gaps.   Expectations are as follows:

• maintain the highest expectations of all pupils and not equate disadvantage of circumstance with ‘low ability’
• forensically know their pupils’ barriers and motivators and use these to plan and deliver lessons and deal with their pupils
• Consider pupils’ cultural capital when planning lessons
• plan and deliver curricula and lessons to a high standard and support the acceleration of progress in learning, so that gaps can be narrowed and improvements maintained
• keep up-to-date with teaching strategies and research, which have proven track record in narrowing the gaps in attainment and achievement