This statement details our school’s use of pupil premium (and recovery premium for the 2022 to 2023 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 £134,640.
School overview
School name
Marden Primary Academy
Number of pupils in school
290
Proportion (%) of pupil premium eligible pupils
29.3% (85)
Academic year/years that our current pupil premium strategy plan covers (3 year plans are recommended)
1 Year
Date this statement was published
September 2023
Date on which it will be reviewed
August 2024
Statement authorised by
Mrs Hannah Penning
Pupil premium lead
Mrs Hannah Penning
Governor / Trustee lead
Mr Will Monk
Funding Overview
Pupil premium funding allocation this academic year
£120,765
Recovery premium funding allocation this academic year
£12,760
Pupil premium funding carried forward from previous years (enter £0 if not applicable)
£0
Total budget for this academic year
£134,640
Statement of intent
Pupil Premium is a government-funded resource paid to schools to meet the needs of disadvantaged pupils. Any pupil who is eligible for Free School Meals now, or has been eligible in the previous 6 years, will receive funding. The funding is also provided to meet the needs of children in care of the Local Authority, children who have recently been adopted from care and children of Service families. The funding paid for each of these groups is different and varies year on year.
Who is eligible for Pupil Premium?
- Children in the Armed Forces Personnel
- Looked After Children
- Children adopted from care or who have left care
Children can have free school meals and are eligible for Pupil Premium if they receive any of the following:
- Income support
- Income-Based Jobseekers Allowance
- Income Related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- Child Tax Credit provided you are not entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual income that does not exceed £16,190
- The guaranteed element of Pension Credit
Why Is Pupil Premium Important?
Nationally, there is a strong link between economic disadvantage and poor achievement in schools. Across the country, there is a significant gap between the progress made by pupils eligible for free school meals and those who are not eligible. There are many reasons why this gap exists. Pupil Premium is given to schools to help us try to close this gap. It is important because it enables us to counteract the disadvantages that poverty imposes on children. It ensures we can put the support in place to help every child in our school thrive and fully master each stage of the curriculum.
Pupil Premium Pupils at Marden Primary Academy
At Marden Primary Academy we recognise that disadvantaged children often face more challenges socially and academically and therefore our pupil premium strategy aims to counteract these challenges and narrow the gaps that these children face. At the heart of our approach is high-effective quality first teaching, 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 also benefit the non disadvantaged pupils in our school. Implicit in the intended outcomes detailed below, is the intention that non-disadvantaged pupils’ attainment will be sustained and improved alongside progress for their disadvantaged peers. 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. Our approach will be in response to common challenges and individual needs, rooted in robust diagnostic assessment, not assumptions about the impact of disadvantage.
To ensure our strategies to support our disadvantaged pupils are effective we will:
- set high expectations and ensure disadvantaged pupils are challenged in the work that they’re set
- act quickly and at the earliest opportunity 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 there is a focus on wellbeing and self esteem so that pupils are ready to learn.
Challenges
This details the key challenges to achievement that we have identified among our disadvantaged pupils.
Challenge 1
Lower attendance and punctuality which can affect progress.
Challenge 2
Lower starting points than their peers in English and maths.
Challenge 3
Families are unable to support the children with their learning at home.
Challenge 4
SEMH challenges such as lack of confidence and low self esteem.
Challenge 5
Financial challenges faced by families due to cost of living increases.
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
Improve attendance and punctuality for PP children.
The majority of pupils in receipt of Pupil premium will attend school regularly (above 90%).
Disadvantaged pupils at all attainment levels will make at least expected progress and where they need to diminish the difference, they make accelerated progress in reading, writing and maths.
To be in line with or exceed the national average for the expected standard in statutory assessment points (GLD, Phonics, KS2 SATs).
For PP children to feel safe, happy and ready to learn.
A clear strategy for wellbeing will be in place to ensure there is appropriate support for pupils.
Staff will have appropriate training and strategies in place.
Children will show positive learning behaviours and will be ready to learn.
To improve enrichment opportunities for pupils who receive PP.
Children will have at least one club a year subsidised to support them in attending.
Trips will be planned in advance allowing parents the opportunity to pay in instalments.
Prices of trips will be reduced.
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: £46,421
Teacher (3 days) to take interventions for UKS2 – small group interventions.
Evidence that supports this approach
Gaps in learning can be actively assessed and responded to dynamically. The EEF states that small group tuition can add up to 4 months of learning. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/small-group-tuition
Challenge number(s) addressed
2
Nurture Group Assistant & associated CPD (NurtureUK & Boxall Profile)
Evidence that supports this approach
Helping children to self regulate and build their resilience means they are ready and able to access learning. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/social-and-emotional-learning
Challenge number(s) addressed
4
Targeted academic support (for example, tutoring, one-to-one support structured interventions)
Budgeted cost: £59,731
Words first resources and training.
EYFS speech and language programme and allocated TA to run this.
Evidence that supports this approach
EEF notes a 5 month impact on learning for oral language interventions. It also adds that Early Years interventions, although expensive, have an impact of 5 months progression.
Challenge number(s) addressed
2
Wellbeing support assistant
Evidence that supports this approach
Helping children to self-regulate and to build their social and emotional resilience and understanding means that they are able to access the academic learning that is being taught to them. The EEF states that the teaching of metacognition and self-regulation has an impact of 7 months whilst social and emotional learning interventions add 4 months.
Challenge number(s) addressed
2, 4
Play therapist
Evidence that supports this approach
SEMH interventions have an identifiable and valuable impact on attitudes to learning and social relationships in school. They also have an average overall impact of four months’ additional progress on attainment.
Challenge number(s) addressed
2, 4
Maths – TTRS
Evidence that supports this approach
The implementation of Times Table Rockstar has allowed children to engage with Maths both at home and school and learning is targeted so we can close gaps. Studies have shown that the use of digital technology can improve outcomes by 4 months.
Challenge number(s) addressed
2, 3
English – Ed Shed
Evidence that supports this approach
The implementation of Ed Shed has allowed children to engage with Spellings both at home and school and learning is targeted so we can close gaps. Studies have shown that the use of digital technology can improve outcomes by 4 months.
Challenge number(s) addressed
2, 3
Speech & Language Link Licences & Resourcing.
LSA to lead and deliver.
Evidence that supports this approach
This resource can be used by children independently to help them access learning in class via the use of technology
The LSA proportion of salary has been determined based on the amount of time to deliver the support across the school.
Challenge number(s) addressed
2
Wider strategies (for example, related to attendance, behaviour, wellbeing)
Budgeted cost: £14,613
School uniform
Evidence that supports this approach
Finances should not be a barrier to all children being able to access education in full school uniform.
Challenge number(s) addressed
5
Wraparound care
Evidence that supports this approach
We will support working families with wrap-around care if applicable. Attendance at breakfast club provides children with a stable start to the school day which allows them to engage with their learning.
Challenge number(s) addressed
5
Trips, clubs, events to be provided at a reduced/no cost.
Evidence that supports this approach
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds may not have the same opportunities socially and culturally as their non-disadvantaged peers. By enabling them to access the same opportunities we are able to open up a variety of experiences for them. This includes sports participation which is shown by the EEF to have a 1 month impact on learning.
Challenge number(s) addressed
5
Attendance support
Evidence that supports this approach
If children are not at school, they will fall further behind. Investing in staffing and intervention to support all learners accessing school is imperative. This will be an aspect of the Inclusion Lead’s salary where there are designated tasks to focus solely on attendance. Parents will have more trust in the school which will enable them to discuss their needs and the needs of their children so that they can be properly supported.
Challenge number(s) addressed
1
Additional resources
Evidence that supports this approach
As the year progresses there will be an accessibility fund that can be accessed to support the ongoing needs of PP children.
Challenge number(s) addressed
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
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.
Teaching (for example, CPD, recruitment and retention)
Budgeted cost: £46,684
Measure: Priority 2
- Teacher
- Great capacity for interventions and smaller class sizes have a positive impact on results. This additional teacher will ensure class sizes of an average of 24 per class.
Reviewed:
- This has been hugely impactful across the school, reducing class sizes by an average of 24 has meant that more children have more time with teacher / TA as the ratio in most classes averages to 1:12
- Nurture Group Assistant & associated CPD (NurtureUK & Boxall Profile)
Reviewed:
- The main aspect of this year was providing the staff with access to CPD and are all fully certified to lead the programme in 2023-24.
- Although the impact of this is yet to be met in terms of pupil outcomes, we are in a position to deliver this across the school in September and remains a key priority.
Teaching: Y6 Outcomes
Target:
To achieve 80% ARE in Reading
Target date:
June 2023
Reviewed:
Achieved 87% ARE
PPG Reviewed Data:
Achieved 76.9% ARE
Target:
To achieve 80% ARE in Writing
Target date:
June 2023
Reviewed:
Achieved 74% ARE
PPG Reviewed Data:
Achieved 76.9% ARE
Target:
To achieve 75% ARE in Maths
Target date:
June 2023
Reviewed:
Achieved 84% ARE
PPG Reviewed Data:
Achieved 76.9% ARE
Target:
To achieve 59% ARE Combined
Target date:
June 2023
Reviewed:
Achieved 68% ARE
PPG Reviewed Data:
Achieved 69.2% ARE
Targeted academic support (for example, tutoring, one-to-one support structured interventions)
Budgeted cost: £47,400
Priority 2
Activity
- LSA
- Supporting children within class for everyday intervention has an impact not only academically, but also supports social skills
Reviewed
LSA supported children with SEMH needs. We found that after the pandemic there had been an acute rise in children note coping socially and emotionally. The LSA had a full timetable of interventions to support children across all phases of the school. With a number of our children, their emotional regulation was affecting their attendance. This intervention saw this anxiety decrease and over time they were able to attend school on time and enter through the school gate in a calm manner. Out of the 23 children that took part in this intervention 18 children made progress.
Priority 3
Activity 1
- PYP curriculum development
Reviewed
This year we have achieved PYP pre-authorisation and PYP Verification to become an International Baccalaureatte Primary Years Programme World School. We achieved 12 commendations including a finding that stated: The PYP is implemented in an inclusive manner, so that all students in all year levels in the school are engaged with the PYP to the fullest extent possible.
Activity 2
- Library
Reviewed
Investment in our library has ensured that our learners have had access to greater variety of quality texts that they can read at home and in school. We have purchased books that provide children with a great range of themes to explore, including classics and books of diverse nature as well as books that are inclusive of our GRT community. As a result, pupils engage more with reading and enjoy spending time in the library to explore the options available to them.
Priority 4
Activity 1
- Speech & Language Link Licences & Resourcing
Reviewed
This assessment allows us to fully support any child across the school with both speech and language concerns. This is a screening we use for all EYFS children coming into school. This allows us to support the child with speech and language skills to follow a rigid programme to ensure progress is made.
Activity 2
- Play therapist
Reviewed
Our play therapist has been able to support a number of our students. Ensuring they have time to work through any concerns they may have. This allows our students some protected time at least once a week. The play therapist has offered sessions to support the parents as well as the children and this year we have been able to run a year 6 transition group.
Table 1 – Phonics Screen (% of whole cohort)
2021
40
2022
42
2023
45
2021
73%
2022
81%
2023
78%
2021
37
2022
41
2023
9
2021
78%
2022
98%
2023
44%
Table 2 – EYFS
2021
58%
2022
75%
2023
80%
Wider strategies (for example, related to attendance, behaviour, wellbeing)
Budgeted cost: £28,995
Priority 1
Activity
- Attendance Support
Reviewed
The support in place has increased attendance by 3.5% and the persistent absence has reduced by 2.3% (see table 3).
Priority 5
Activity
- School uniform support
- Wrap around care
- Trips, clubs and events
Reviewed
supported families with uniform, including pe kit and equipment. All members of the Marden community are in full uniform as a result. 12 children were purchased full uniforms, including duplicates.
The numbers of children attending wrap around care increased by 34% as a result of subsidy. This was a tool also used to support improving attendance.
All children were provided with the means to attend all trips, clubs and events. No child was excluded throughout the year based on finance. We did this by subsidising the overall cost for all children.
Table 3 – PPG Attendance
2022
87.3%
2023
90.8%
2022
45.8%
2023
43.5%
COVID Catch-Up Funding Review
Academic Year 2022-23
Total funded through COVID catch-up fund:
£12,760
Review of expenditure
We utilised the funding to top up the 40% shortfall from Tutor-led funding which cost £8,316.
We utilised the expenditure by bringing in a fully qualified teacher 1 full day per week. They worked with KS1 and LKS2 predominantly supporting those who had significant gaps in their learning due to the pandemic. Small group phonics sessions happened daily and this intervention supported 81% of year 1 children pass their phonics screening and 98% of children in Year 2. This also supported 78% of students in Year 2 achieving ARE+.
The remaining £4,444 we provide support for children who had significant gaps in reading in LKS2, they had daily interventions also for reading.
This catch-up funding also allowed for small group maths sessions with KS1, working with short interventions with core skills such as times tables, place value and pre-teaching future content. This supported 78% reaching ARE+ at the end of KS1 in maths .