Pupil Premium

Funding

Pupil Premium is funding given to schools so that additional support can be given to disadvantaged students in order to close the attainment gap between them and their peers.

Pupil Premium is in addition to main school funding and is the current method to address the underlying inequalities between children eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) at any point in the last six years (known as Ever 6 FSM) and their peers. Schools also receive funding for children who have been ‘looked after’ continuously for more than six months and the children of service personnel.

Thomas Estley is allocated Pupil Premium funding each year in addition to the main school budget. This money is received in termly payments to offer additional support for students. Interventions for each student are decided on an individual needs led basis. This meant that students are able to benefit from more than one intervention at any one time. The Sutton Trust-EEF Teaching and Learning Toolkit is used amongst other evidence available, to provide guidance on how to improve the attainment of disadvantaged students and inform planning of appropriate interventions.

Quality First Teaching

Excellence means having the highest expectations of our students and their potential. Each student’s achievement is guaranteed by outstanding teaching and learning which is creative and engaging for all. No student will be left behind and we must challenge our students to recognise that true success comes from hard work.

The Sutton Trust-EEF Teaching and Learning Toolkit

The EEF Toolkit is an independent resource which provides guidance for teachers and schools on how to use their resources to improve the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. Just as doctors would not be expected to prescribe treatments without access to medical research, we believe that teachers should be supported with information about what has worked – and, just as important, what has not – in England and around the world. The EEF Toolkit will help schools to identify which approaches are the ‘best bets’ for increasing the attainment of disadvantaged students and which approaches offer less promising chances of success. At Thomas Estley we ‘drip feed’ elements of the toolkit through-out the academic year with all teaching staff.

View the EEF Toolkit

The Pupil Premium Team

At Thomas Estley Community College we have a dedicated team of staff supporting the achievement, progress and well-being of our Pupil Premium (PP) students. We work together with the aim of ensuring that PP students are as successful as non-PP students in school and across the country.

As a team, we are responsible for:

Monitoring and tracking the progress made by our students
Planning key interventions where necessary
Supporting students with their attendance
Providing key revision materials
Ensuring that teaching staff are aware of our PP students and fully equipped to provide the best in-class support for them
Deploying the funding we receive in a way that most benefits our students – See strategy statement link
Developing strong relationships with PP students and their families – working in Partnership with parents and carers

The main members of the team are:

Hayley Briggs Assistant Principal
Diane Sinclair, Wendy Gullen and Araminta Potterton-Orton: Pupil Premium Achievement Mentors

If you have any questions about the Pupil Premium funding or would like to know more about how we spend the PP grant, please call and speak to one of the team.

Catch-up

Although interventions are in place in all year groups and subject areas to target underachievement promptly and to intervene to raise outcomes and support progress, we have a particular focus on supporting students who have not met the expected level of attainment within their primary school, to accelerate their progress.

Catch Up Programme - example elements

Intensive small group tuition in English

To enable teaching to be delivered in a supportive environment where work is consistently differentiated, and student progress is checked and monitored. A real emphasis is being placed upon the development of literacy skills and ensuring the basic knowledge and skills are embedded to enable progress.

Intensive small group tuition in Maths

To enable teaching to be delivered in a supportive environment where work is consistently differentiated and student progress is checked and monitored. A real emphasis is being placed upon the development of numeracy skills and ensuring the basic knowledge and skills are embedded to enable progress.

In-class support for literacy and numeracy

In all other areas of the curriculum students are supported. There is a Learning Support Assistant deployed in the classroom to assist and support, especially with literacy and numeracy skills.

Thomas Estley Community College

Pupil Premium

Funding

The Pupil Premium Team

Here is our current Pupil Premium Policy

Catch-up

Cookie Policy