THE COTSWOLD SCHOOL ACADEMY – PUPIL PREMIUM STRATEGY

The Pupil Premium is additional funding for publicly funded schools in England to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils of all abilities and to close the gaps between them and their peers.

‘Disadvantaged pupils’ are those who have claimed free school meals at any point in the last six years (ever6FSM) and pupils in care, or who left care through adoption or another formal route. We also receive Pupil Premium for pupils who have parents in the regular armed forces. Evidence shows that the progress and achievement of disadvantaged pupils is normally lower than that of ‘other’ pupils. The pupil premium funding ensures eligible students benefit from the same educational opportunities as all other pupils. The grant may therefore be spent in the following ways:

• for the purposes of the school i.e. for the educational benefit of pupils registered at that school
• for the benefit of pupils registered at other maintained schools or academies
• on community facilities e.g. services whose provision furthers any charitable purpose for the benefit of pupils at the school or their families, or people who live or work in the locality in which the school is situated

The grant does not have to be completely spent by schools in the fiscal year; some or all of it may be carried forward to future financial years.

The Cotswold School – Pupil Premium Objectives

• To provide additional educational support to raise the achievement of pupils eligible for Pupil Premium
• To make a positive impact on the education and personal outcomes of pupils eligible for Pupil Premium

The Cotswold School – Pupil Premium Strategy

• To develop whole school programmes when addressing the attainment gap experienced by disadvantaged pupils.
• To develop targeted support for individual pupils who have specific needs.
• To create a Pupil Premium action plan that sits within the School Development Plan, with an approximate cost of providing each intervention.
• To regularly monitor and assess the overall impact of whole school and individual interventions in terms of educational outcomes and pupils’ wider personal development.
• To monitor and report on the cost-effectiveness of Pupil Premium spend and amend future strategies and plans as a result.
• To report regularly to the governing body and to publish information on Pupil Premium spending an annual basis to parents.

Pupil Premium Grant – Whole School Programme

There are a number of whole school programmes that the school may use to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils, which may include:

• Behaviour and attendance support programmes; reducing challenging behaviour in school can have a direct and lasting effect on pupils’ learning. The School uses a merit/demerit system to improve behaviour and also implements programmes which are targeted at students with specific behavioural issues.
• Counselling and pastoral support programmes; the School directly employs two counsellors who offer 1:1 coaching and tailor their interventions to the specific needs of the pupils.
• A focus on social and emotional learning; the School delivers specialised programmes which are targeted at pupils with particular social or emotional problems, as well as a whole school approach supporting greater engagement in learning.
• Supported learning through digital technology; the School has invested in interactive whiteboards, laptops, tablets and a number of learning platforms that supplement the traditional methods of teaching. The additional technology enables different learning interactions, which particularly benefits pupils with lower engagement or motivation to learn.
• Subsidised participation in art and music clubs and lessons; the School offers subsidies to disadvantaged pupils to encourage their participation in art and music activities (e.g. music tuition).
• Subsidised participation in extra-curricular activities; cultural and enrichment activities and trips; the School will fully subsidise trips that wholly support the curriculum and will part subsidise other extra-curricular activities that promote the social and educational development of pupils. The School provides a breakfast club and a late bus to encourage disadvantaged children to attend extra-curricular activities.
• Parental involvement programmes; the School encourages the active engagement of parents in supporting their children’s learning. The School includes programmes to encourage parents to support their children to read or do mathematics.
• Reducing class sizes and employing additional teaching assistants; the School continually reviews the number of teachers and class sizes, endeavouring to increase staffing levels and reduce class sizes. This allows teachers to provide greater focus on Pupil Premium performance.

Pupil Premium Grant – Targeted Interventions

There are a number of targeted individual interventions that the School may use to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils, which may include:

• Mentoring and feedback initiatives; Mentoring is being used for disadvantaged pupils aiming to build confidence, or to develop resilience and character. Although it doesn’t directly focus on teaching or tutoring specific skills, evidence shows that it does improve educational outcomes.
• 1:1 teaching and small group tuition; the School provides additional tuition from a trained teacher which is linked with normal teaching. The teachers monitor progress to ensure the tutoring is beneficial and to determine whether one to one tuition or small group tuition leads to greater improvement.
• Targeted homework and reading programmes; the impact of homework on learning is consistently positive and the School has invested in systems and teaching programmes that ensure homework can be set and targeted feedback provided to pupils. The system also allows parents to monitor and actively support their child in homework activities.
• Subsidised purchase of educational materials; the School will part subsidise additional materials and resources that support the educational development of disadvantaged pupils. The School may subsidise music tuition classes (maximum £25 per term) for pupils whose parents are in the regular armed forces, on an exceptions basis only.

Criteria for providing subsidies to parents for materials and educational trips

In order to fall within the budgeted cost for 2019-20, the following criteria will be applied:

• 25% subsidy for all educational materials
• 10% to 25% subsidy for educational trips depending on how directly they support the curriculum

These percentages may by changed for certain individuals and families at the sole discretion of Mr W Morgan (Headteacher) and Mr S Smith (Deputy Headteacher).

An e-mail will be sent by Parentmail at the start of each term to families on the FSM list for that academic year reminding them that subsidies are available and to contact admin@thecotswoldschool.co.uk for further information.

Pupil Premium reporting

The school will report on the impact on educational achievement (reading, writing and GCSE performance) of disadvantaged pupils as well as improvements in attendance, behaviour and personal development. Progress is monitored against the Pupil Premium action plan and is reported internally to the governing body.