The graduated strategy of support that is illustrated below has been designed to ensure that Pupil Premium spend is targeted, transparent and sustainable. As I have alluded to in previous blogs, Disadvantaged Pupils (DP’s) do not perform as a homogenous group, therefore a successful PP strategy must identify the individual barriers to learning of each pupil and break them down. The model that is present below is a 6 tiered graduated approach that targets ALL disadvantaged pupils.
At this point, it is important to stress the notion that the provision of PP spend must reach ALL your Disadavantged Pupils regardless of their performance. As you will be aware from reading the most recent inspection reports and the guidance that is provided, Ofsted place a great emphasis on all KS2 prior attainment bands of DP (in particular the high prior attainers). Some schools neglect this sub division of the cohort because they may be deemed to be doing ‘just ok’, so essentially miss out.
Some schools choose to adopt a bottom up approach and focus on the low prior attainment KS2 band. If you think about this from a moral perspective, then you must agree that this is not sensible and certainly does not promote equity for all. Regardless of current performance, even the DP’s who are deemed to be doing well must still benefit from the additional funding.
So to revert back to my original message..... Make sure you target all bands of DP, not just the ones who seem to have underperformed and flagged red in last years RAISEonline (or now ASP).
Whilst I am on my soapbox ...... another common approach that I have seen in schools is to plough the majority of the provision into Y11 to try and miraculously improve outcomes. All this does is create a ‘sticking plaster’ and the cracks will keep appearing year in year out. The spend and strategy must start in Y7 and the support needs to be front loaded, embedded and engrained so that a positive legacy can be created.
The model that is present above is a whole school approach. Each DP will receive the ‘universal offer’, which includes a 360 Profile, 6 half termly data captures, an assertive mentor who they meet with weekly, a teaching and learning entitlement, they will be strategically placed in the classroom with higher ability pupils, they will have a pupil premium promise (Bucket list of life, enrichment and academic experiences each DP must complete each year), enhanced and more frequent parental contact.
Depending on the need of the pupil they will then move up the tiers which become a lot more intensive in terms of the support that is provided. To escalate up a tier a parental meeting must be held and all decisions come through myself as the gate keeper.
A simple but sustainable approach!
The next blog will be about elemets of the ‘Universal offer’ including the DP 360 Profile. I will provide resources that will enable you to create your own version.
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