“The pupil premium is additional funding for publicly funded schools in England. It’s designed to help disadvantaged pupils of all abilities perform better, and close the gap between them and their peers.” (DFE 2018)

The goal for our pupil premium students is that year on year, their achievement and attainment at the very least, matches those of non-pupil premium students. To achieve this we use an interrelated approach that avoids assumptions, instead using evidence based strategies to ensure excellent student achievement. All PP students are individuals and the support and focus they will require as such, will be different year or year. Therefore, we have an ever-evolving PP plan that can be adapted to support students and combat challenges to learning that arise during any specific year. When identifying strategies and allocating funding to particular interventions we consider the impact of previous experience within our school context, as well as applying knowledge gained from external research including the Educational Endowment Foundation. We are committed to using a range of measures to evaluate the impact of the spend as an on-going process throughout each academic year.

At Simon Balle All through School we operate a tiered approach to PPG spending:

1: Quality First Teaching 

2: Targeted academic support 

3: Wider strategies 

Quality first teaching in every classroom is the priority for PPG spending. To achieve this, we spend the PPG in the following ways:  

  • Professional development 
  • Recruitment and retention
  • Supporting teachers with new initiatives within the classroom

Evidence shows that targeted support has a positive impact and is a key component of effective PPG use. We spend the PPG on targeted support in the following ways:

  • Structured interventions  
  • Small group tuition  
  • One-to-one support 
  • Reading and literacy initiatives to support students with accessing the curriculum

Wider strategies are used to overcome non-academic barriers to success. We spend the PPG on the following wider strategies:  

  • SEMH / pastoral support  
  • Attendance initiatives

Students are entitled to PP funding if:

  • Students who are currently, or who have been entitled to free school meals at any point over the past 6 years (ever 6)
  • Children in local authority care or adopted from local authority care
  • Students who have at least one parent working for the Armed Services or have had at some point in the past 3 years

Simon Balle All through School Pupil premium strategy statement