St Thomas More Catholic School Pupil, Catch-up and Service Children Premium Funding At St Thomas More Catholic School we are clear that the most important gains in student progress are made in classrooms through outstanding teaching. For this reason we have an ongoing and relentless focus on innovative teaching and learning for all students, specifically those who are vulnerable and may require additional support. Context Pupil premium funding was introduced in April 2011. This has been allocated to schools to address the underlying inequalities between children eligible for free school meals and their wealthier peers, by ensuring that funding to tackle disadvantage reaches those pupils who need it most. The funding is allocated to the following groups of students: Looked After Children - who have been continuously looked after for the past six months, or who have left care under a Special Guardianship or Residence Order ( 1,900) Free School Meals (FSM) - who are currently in receipt of free school meals (FSM) ( 935) Ever 6 - who have been in receipt of free school meals (FSM) at any point in the past 6 years ( 935) Service Children - for children whose parents are currently serving in the armed forces, or whose parent /guardian is in receipt of a pension from the MoD ( 300) Adopted Children - who are adopted from care under the Adoption and Children Act 2002 ( 1,900) 1 Pupil Premium Funding 2015 2016 179,520 Total Pupil Premium Expenditure 180,182 As a school we are directly accountable for how this additional funding is utilised, not only for the methods of academic and pastoral intervention but the impact that such intervention has on these students. For each FSM student in 2015/16 we received 935.00. We are also required to publish online information about how we have used the funding. We are committed to ensuring that parents are fully aware of the attainment of pupils covered by this funding and the positive impact of this expenditure. After prior attainment, poverty is the single most important factor in predicting a child s future life chances. Core : 1 500 of this allocation is held centrally by Gateshead LEA at the discretion of the Virtual Headteacher responsible for LAC.
1. Potential: to close the progression and attainment gap for Pupil Premium students to ensure that potential is maximised through exceeding expected levels of progression 2. Literacy & Numeracy: to maintain the reading scheme intervention to improve the reading age of students whose reading age is below national average 3. Engagement: to improve curriculum engagement and academic achievement for PP students whilst addressing the attendance gap between and non PP students 4. Opportunities: to ensure that financial limitations on a student s context never limits their ability to grow academically, socially or spiritually Intake Disadvantaged pupils attend the St Thomas More Catholic School from a number of of diverse entry points and often join the school having achieved below national expectations, at the end of Key Stage 2. Low levels of literacy and a lack of aspiration are sometimes coupled with difficulties surrounding transportation home from school, highlighted consistently in the relatively poor uptake of Pupil Premium students in extra-curricular activities, external support session and parental intervention events. In some cases parental engagement and support are lacking; including basic care and nutrition in a minority of situations. Some high ability pupils arrive at the school, having failed to make more than expected progress, and have inadequate aspirations in terms of further education and career choices. We have a school wide commitment to raise the achievement of these students and to pay attention to the needs of this particular group. Curriculum Focus Improving the core areas of literacy and numeracy to enable disadvantaged pupils to quickly access the full curriculum. This is achieved through a consistent approach to literacy and numeracy across the curriculum and through a strong emphasis on the core skill of reading. This core skill is supported through, amongst other initiatives, the Accelerated Reading Programme in Key Stage 3. The process of our decision-making for our disadvantaged students with regards to which Intervention Pathway best meets their individual learning needs is embedded in the belief that we have extremely high expectations and extremely high ambitions for every pupil, regardless of background. Constant quantitative and qualitative information is used to analyse the progress of all Pupil Premium students in each Key Stage is used to identify underachieving individuals and to respond with appropriate support from the pastoral care teams including all members of the Senior Management Team, Heads of House, Tutors/Co-Tutors, Pastoral Mentors, Teaching Assistants and Education Welfare Officers. Monitoring of this progress is led by the Director of Pupil Premium in close partnership with a dedicated Link Member of the Senior Management Team. Monitoring of the impact and success of implemented strategies is carried out by the Governing Body through the Senior Management Team (SMT).
Expectations of all class teachers to deliver outstanding lessons includes the use of information to highlight students eligible for the Pupil Premium and to target them for support as needed. It is the responsibility of all class teachers to provide differentiated learning opportunities that will aid academic progression. Interventions, when required, will be monitored, progress assessed and impact evaluated in all cases. Governors In order to ensure transparency and oversight, in the monitoring of activities and strategies being employed, a member of the Governing Body formalised as its Pupil Premium Representative. Regular evaluation and analysis are prepared as a specific section within the Head-Teacher's Report [to Governors] which encompasses all aspects of progression and achievement. This ensures that the Governing Body is able to consistently and qualitatively assess the actions of the St Thomas More Pupil Premium Board. The Pupil, Catch Up and Service Child Premium are the principal sources of funding for the following programmes: Pupil Premium Expenditure Budget Curriculum Programs - focussed on potential 1:1 Tutors to support literacy and numeracy 11,680 Dedicated and targeted interventions in 1-2-1 as well as small groups in the lead up to the examination process. Sixth Form (Year 12/13) Mentors used for the first time to enable wider impact on the Pupil Premium Cohort more consistently. Objective 1 Arts / Sports Tutors 350 PP specific staff training 200 Subject specific revision/study guides / resources 1835 LAC Laptop Loan 300 Enrichment Programmes - Enhanced Curriculum Objective 2 School Trips - for FSM pupils 600
By removing financial barriers for parents/carers we increase participation and enrichment in both pastoral and curriculum events. KS2 Summer Transition Experience 980 Objective 3 By enabling Year 6 Pupil Premium students to engage with the expectations and culture of Year 7 and act as an academic bridge to identify future learning needs. KS2 - Year 5 & 6 Arts in the Community 110 Objective 4 Enrichment activities 1900 Objective 4 Breakfast clubs 305 Pastoral Programme - Behavioural and Emotional Objective 1 Student behavioural and referral programmes * Year 7 Co-Tutors * Objective 3 Inspiration programmes Inspiring Futures 870 Objective 4 School uniform provision - for FSM eligible pupils 1185 Total Pupil Premium non-staffing expenditure 20,315 * Please see following Staffing Expenditure table Pupil Premium Staffing Budget Pastoral Support (allocation) Objective 1 2 x EWO on a full time basis (100%) 50,856 Increase attendance of all students Pupil Premium pupils showing a 0.88% improvement over the course of the previous academic year, with a Pupil Premium pupils across Years 7 to 11 averaging 98.32%
Curriculum Intervention & Strategy (allocation) 1 & 2 Senior Management Team (SMT) Link (10%) 7,426 Director of Pupil Premium (75%) 37,160 Pupil Premium Data Manager (15%) 5,735 LAC Lead Liaison (25%) 12,345 LAC Administrative Support (50%) 9,657 Objective 2 2 x Literacy & Numeracy Teachers (33%) 30,353 Curriculum Pastoral Support (allocation) Objective 1 & 2 Year 7 Co-tutors (5%) 1000 Objective 1 & 2 Progress Leaders KS3/4 & Pastoral Mentors KS3/4 (20%) 6000 Total Pupil Premium staffing expenditure 160,532 Evaluating Impact and Progression The nominated member of the Senior Management Team, alongside the Pupil Premium Co-ordinator, regularly and consistently track the progress of these students and evaluate the effectiveness of current, past and forthcoming intervention activities. Individualised Curriculum Pupil Premium students have benefited from a specific and tailored curriculum map which sees students accessing a wide breadth of Level 2 courses, at times taking on multiple vocational avenues, which have resulted in 0% NEETs placements. Whilst these curriculum routes rarely give an honest reflection of attainment or progression, often due to repetition of course choice in league tables, we believe it has enabled these students to be fully prepared for their next steps beyond Year 11. National Attainment and Progression Data Comparison
Measure of Assessment 2014-2015 FSM Pupils * 2014-2015 Disadvantaged Pupils * All other Pupils FSM Pupils Disadvantaged Pupils All other Pupils % of pupils attaining 5 A*- C (E & M) % of Pupils making English 33 37 65 71 61 84 58 58 75 71 77 86 % of Pupils exceeding English Data not available 32 32 18 18 39 % of Pupils making Mathematics 49 46 71 67 61 78 % of Pupils exceeding Mathematics Data not available 29 29 24 22 38 * 2015 Validated National Assessment Information used for cohort comparison. This will be updated with 2016 Validated figures once released. Review of Impact Strategies The impact of strategies can be objectively assessed and in virtually every measure disadvantaged students performed similarly or better than their counterparts nationally, where available. (2015 Validated National Assessment Information used for cohort comparison. This will be updated with 2016 Validated figures once released); St Thomas More Catholic School Historic Comparison Measure of Assessment % of pupils attaining 5 A*- C (E & M) 34 37 61 An increase of 27% compared to the previous academic year and indicating a positive gap of 24% compared to the national statistic from the 2015 validated data. Measure of Assessment
% of Pupils making English 57 58 77 An increase of 20% compared to the previous academic year and indicating a positive gap of 19% compared to the national statistic from the 2015 validated data. Measure of Assessment % of Pupils making Mathematics 64 46 61 An slight decrease of of 3% compared to the previous academic year and indicating a positive gap of 19% compared to the national statistic from the 2015 validated data. Attendance Disadvantaged Student Attendance was 92.9% across the Academic Year. Indicating a GAP of -2.55% compared to the whole school and a slight positive of 0.2% compared to the Disadvantaged Students nationally in 2015. (2015 Validated National Assessment Information used for cohort comparison. This will be updated with 2016 Validated figures once released)