Starting Point 01 - Identifying and understanding the needs of your 'in school' cohort. A deeper look within . . . .
Education is not just for the elite. It is for everyone regardless of the circumstances into which they are born. In order to ensure students from every background get the same opportunities as everyone else, teachers must pay meticulous attention to disadvantaged pupils (DP's). This is important as it is these students who stand to gain the most from effective teaching and learning. Firstly, it is important to note that Disadvantaged Pupils cannot be stereotyped and they certainly do not function or perform as a homogeneous group. The research can point you in the right direction and provide you with a hypothesis to follow, but I advise you to first look inwards to the individual needs of the pupils who walk the corridors at your school. Your 'in school' DP cohort will be very different in holistic need to the one in the school 5 miles down the road. In practical and simplistic terms, your pupil premium strategy must identify and break down the barriers to learning for each individual pupil who walks through your gates. There should be no place for a carte blanche or scatter gun approach.
Success Criteria 01
The first area to look at is the break down and allocation of the funding you receive. Consider the following questions -
● How many disadvantaged pupils have you on roll and much funding does this attract?
● What percentage of your DP cohort are currently in receipt of Free School Meals?
● What percentage have been in receipt of Free School Meals in the last 6 years (FSM Ever6)?
● What percent are looked after (LAC) ?
● What percent qualify for Post-LAC funding?
● What percent are SEN?
● What are their main SEN needs?
● How many are Low, Middle and High prior attainers are there?
Once you have this initial information then drill down and look at other turbulence factors that may have an impact on their performance. Consider the following -
Attendance
● How many persistent absentees have you got? Can these be pinned down to a year group? An ability range?
● How many are currently 'just above' becoming persistently absent?
● What is your attendance trend for DP's over 3 years compared to national? Is it improving or declining?
● Can you preempt poor attendance of the new Y7 intake by early identification through extended transition?
Behaviour
● What is your % of fixed term exclusions for DP's compared to national?
● What is your % of repeat exclusions for DP's compared to national?
● Over a 3 year trend is this an improving or declining picture?
● Which pupils are having the most impact on exclusions? Can case studies be written for these pupils?
● Investigate internal behavioural data like isolations and detentions. Are there any trends?
● Is poor behaviour linked to a specific year group? ability? gender?
Progress and Attainment
● Look at the differences in scaled scores from KS2 between DP and Non-DP. (Specifically focus on literacy)
● Investigate RAISEonline (now ASP) and see if you can trace under performance (reds) back through the school?
● Is there rooted under performance?Is there a legacy that needs addressing?
● What is the 3 year trend suggesting? (The FFT website will take the leg work out of this for you)
● Make sure you have a data profile for each year group and know the strengths and weaknesses.
● Have you any 'outliers' that are impacting on your figures?
Attitude
● What is the attitudinal profile of the DP cohort towards school and self?
● This can be easily collected from a PASS survey from GL Assessment.
Location
● Where do you draw the DP's from in your school?
● What facilities are there for them as a community?
● Do staff have a realistic impression of what it is like to live where they live? (I am guessing not)
What to do once you have this analysis
So once you have took a rigorous look at your 'in school' cohort you must then share, share and share!
I did this by delivering a whole staff inset on the first day of term. I presented my findings graphically and went through the main AFI's we would be focusing on this year. I produced a hand out that contained all the key Pupil Premium information. All staff got a copy and this included Governors. I also insisted copies of this were to be displayed in every departmental and senior leaders office and this was QA'ed. This way we are all speaking a common language and every member of staff knows the priorities.
The information I collected from the detailed analysis then provided me evidence and guided me on how to write the pupil premium spending plan.
I have also arranged a tour of the local areas where we draw our DP's from for new colleagues to the school.
The next blog will be about provision . . . . . Transforming staff to become absolute advocates for the Disadvantaged!
Keep peeled and please share