The aim of the government’s pupil premium fund is to raise achievement amongst disadvantaged children. Pupil premium will provide additional funding for disadvantaged pupils to ensure they benefit from the same educational opportunities as pupils from more affluent socioeconomic backgrounds. The pupil premium has a number of wider aims:
Pupil Premium is allocated to schools per the number of students in the last 6 years who have been eligible for free school meals, this number is referred to as ‘Ever 6’, Pupil Premium is also allocated to Looked After Children. It is for each individual school decide how to spend this money, since they are best placed to assess what additional provision should be made for their individual pupils.
The main focus of Lansdown Park Academy’s spending of Pupil Premium is to improve outcomes for our most disadvantaged learners, ensuring equity for these young people and therefore narrowing the academic and social gap between these students and their peers.
| Detail | Data |
| School name | Lansdown Park Academy |
| Number of pupils in school | 28 |
| Proportion (%) of pupil premium eligible pupils | |
| Academic year/ years that our current pupil premium strategy plan covers | 2023- 2024 |
| Date this statement was published | 1st May 2024 |
| Date on which it will be reviewed | On or before 1st May 2025 |
| Statement Authorised by | Paul Todd- Principal |
| Pupil Premium lead | SENCo (to be recruited) |
| Trust Lead | Tony Searle |
| Aspect of Pupil Premium | Explanation | PP Funding Per Pupil | Number/% of students on roll claiming this aspect |
| FSM | Children from low-income families who apply for, and are eligible for, free school meals. | £1035 | |
| ‘Ever 6’ FSM | Children who were eligible for FSM at any point in the last six years (Ever 6). This means that a child eligible for FSM in the last year of primary education will remain eligible for the Pupil Premium up to Year 11. | £1035 | |
| LAC | Children who; a) have been looked-after continuously for more than six months. b) have been looked after for one day or more c) are adopted d) leave care under a special Guardianship Order or a Residence Order | £2,530* | *We only receive if they are solely registered with LPA census |
| SCP | Children of armed forces personnel (the Service Child Premium) | £335* | *We only receive if they are solely registered with LPA at time of census |
| Detail | Amount |
| Total Pupil Premium funding allocation this academic year 2023/24 | £10, 350 |
Our aim is to use pupil premium funding to improve the educational experience and outcomes for our most disadvantaged young people, through deeper understanding of their needs and privileging these at every opportunity.
The Cabot Learning Federation focus is on prioritising those experiencing disadvantage over any and all other groups and areas. We will achieve greater equity for our disadvantaged learners by improving standards through our overarching CLF strategy in the areas of school improvement, infrastructure and people.
The key principle is to provide our disadvantaged learners with an education offer that has demonstrable impact; ensuring effective teaching, an emphasis on literacy and oracy, an increased sense of belonging and benevolent childhood experiences – and that this offer is effectively implemented and quality assured so that practice becomes embedded. Ultimately the attainment and attendance of disadvantaged children is the key measure for the Academy as an indicator of the effectiveness of provision for those who most need it. We also know that disadvantaged pupils and students thrive when teaching is effective. We will have stronger preferences and opinions on the teaching and pedagogy that matters, particularly for those presently disadvantaged. We will use our quality assurance and assessment approaches to ask more challenging questions about provision for the pupil premium cohort. Leadership is the enabler that will improve standards of teaching. Leaders at every level will strive to secure teaching and learning that has the most impact on the pupil premium cohort.
And when;
When we make decisions regarding the use of Pupil Premium funding it is important that we consider the context of the school and the challenges faced by our pupils. We recognise that pupils can experience many barriers to their learning and that these barriers can be long term, short term or can change over time. We believe that it is vital that these barriers are identified and addressed in order for our pupils to achieve their maximum potential. This details the key challenges to achievement that we have identified among our disadvantaged pupils.
| Detail of Challenge |
| Attendance and punctuality issues; in the academic year 2018 – 2019, pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals had an overall absence rate of 7.6%, compared to 4.3% for non-FSM pupils. Data for 2019 – 2020 and 2020 – 2021 is skewed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. (DfE, 2019)
Lack of support at home and low levels of aspiration, due to a narrow range of experiences and opportunities; Research, such as that by Nabil Khattab (2015), suggests that students with low expectations of themselves, and low aspirations, will achieve less in their educational lives. In an environment where they may never have seen anyone go on to university or certain careers, we needed to create an atmosphere of encouragement and lots of opportunities for success. Weaker language and communication skills; Poorer children who fall behind in reading at an early age earn around 20% an hour less in later life, according to a study commissioned by the Literacy Trust – the report states that “On average, children from low-income families are nearly 12 months behind their better-off peers in vocabulary by the time they start school,” and that, “the UK has the strongest link among developed nations between poor literacy and unemployment.“ The report goes on to detail how one in five children in England cannot read well by the time they leave primary school, while this figure rises to one in three among children from disadvantaged backgrounds. (Literacy Trust, 2014) A considerable body of research documents the link between literacy and how well people do at work – their employment rates and incomes. On average, adults with functional literacy earn 16% more than those without this level of literacy. Lack of early childhood benevolent experiences; Historic and recent research has demonstrated not only how benevolent childhood experiences (BCEs) are associated with better adult mental health, but how these positive experiences have acted as a buffer to poor mental health following the Coronavirus pandemic. Research by Doom et. Al (2021) found that higher levels of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms following the pandemic period and that higher levels of BCEs were associated with lower depressive symptoms, lower perceived stress, and less self-reported loneliness. The report concluded that BCEs should be considered an important promotive factor, independent of ACEs, for psychological well-being during a global public health crisis. Lack of resources to support home learning; The Nuffield Foundation has conducted a robust study into students’ access to home learning throughout the Coronavirus pandemic, which found a significant difference in pupils’ level of engagement with remote learning. Schools with the highest levels of pupil deprivation (those in the highest free school meal quintile) report 13 percentage point lower levels of pupil engagement compared to schools in the middle quintile. And that in schools with higher levels of socioeconomic deprivation, parental engagement is significantly lower in the least deprived schools (41% compared to 62%). Students reported that the main barriers to accessing distance learning were access to IT equipment, a lack of workspace and overcrowding in their homes, which meant it was difficult to concentrate. (Nuffield Foundation, 2020) Gaps in learning, keeping up and feeling success; Non-disadvantaged students are likely to still be able to succeed in line with their academic targets, even with substandard teaching. For disadvantaged learners, the effect of poor teaching is much greater, meaning gaps in learning become wider. In particular following the Coronavirus pandemic, whereby disadvantaged learners are likely to have had more difficulty in accessing home learning, there is an even greater emphasis on the importance of high-quality teaching for our disadvantaged learners. |
This explains the intervention, challenge focus and outcomes we are aiming for by the end of our current strategy plan, and how we will measure whether they have been achieved. Lansdown Park Academy recognises the importance of using Pupil Premium (PP) funding to support students through both a range of Curriculum/Academic and Pastoral support. We believe that a balance of academic and pastoral interventions is essential in closing the gap between those students who are FSM and the rest of the school.
| Intervention | Challenge Focus | Cost (per annum) | Success Criteria |
| Breakfast | Lack of support at home and low levels of aspiration, due to a narrow range of experiences and opportunities. | £600 | |
| Enrichment opportunities, including climbing, BMX, Swimming, Parkour | Lack of early childhood benevolent experiences. | £3000 | |
| School trips
|
£400 | ||
| Uniform and water bottles | Lack of support at home and low levels of aspiration, due to a narrow range of experiences and opportunities. | £350 | Students show sense of belonging and this is reflected in attendance data and conversations with parents and outside agencies. |
| Mental Health First Aid trained practitioners | Cost of Leyanne and Leah training? | Students feel supported by staff at Lansdown Park and can voice adults they feel they can talk to | |
| Interventions including Thrive, ELSA
|
Cost of Thrive practitioner training?
£2000 |
Students have an increased understanding of self and how to name and manage emotions, which supports self-regulation and reduction in stage 5 incidents and suspensions. |
| Whole School Focus | Impact |
| Belonging
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| Curriculum
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| Appraisals
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| Reading and Oracy
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| Attendance
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