Grace Academy Coventry – Pupil Premium Strategy
Context:
In the 2018/2019 academic year, our percentage of Pupil Premium students across years 7 to 11 was 41%. However, we recognise that our 2018/2019 Year 11 cohort were our lowest percentage of Pupil Premium students and brought the figure down to 41%. We expect our numbers to be similar to the current Year 7 year group and therefore estimate our Pupil Premium percentage will increase to 42% for the 2019/2020 academic year.
In the 2016/2017 academic year, Grace Academy Coventry’s Progress 8 score was -0.57. As part of this the Progress 8 score for our disadvantaged students was -0.87. Both Progress 8 scores improved in the 2017/2018 academic year with overall moving to -0.5 and our disadvantaged score improving to -0.64. Our Progress 8 score for disadvantaged students within the English element massively improved from -1.07 in 2016/2017 to -0.39 in 2017/2018. Our journey of progress saw our Progress 8 score move to -0.08 as a school, with our Progress 8 for disadvantaged moving to -0.19. Whilst we recognise this is a massive improvement, we also appreciate our % achieving 5-9 overlap E/M was our lowest result to date over the three years and as a result is a focus of the 2019/2020 strategy.
We continue to place ‘Teaching’ at the heart of our Pupil Premium strategy using the suggested tiered approach outlined by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF). A view highlighted in the 2011 Sutton Trust report and put into practice effectively by Springfield Junior School – a school recognised for their exceptional outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.
Another strategy outlined by the EEF is using evidence by making use of other schools and their successes with similar challenges. Using this strategy, since becoming part of the Tove Learning Trust (TLT), Grace Academy Coventry has made links with Rushden Academy who moved their Progress 8 score from -0.77 in 2016/2017 to -0.24 in 2017/2018 (formally Rushden College).
We also continue to make effective use of research in any strategies we implement as part of our Pupil Premium strategy. Where evidence-based strategies are used, 46% secondary school teachers found their school’s Pupil Premium work was having impact (Sutton Trust 2019).
Based on our external review in June 2018, our 2019/2020 strategy focuses on the following: more rigorous tracking of progress by our Pupil Premium students, monitoring of progress at department level, whole school awareness of Pupil Premium students, Pupil Premium to be regularly calendared to CPD sessions, tracking of behaviour at sub-group level as well as attendance tracked and monitored weekly at sub-group level.
| Evaluation of Pupil Premium Spend September 2018 – July 2019 | |||||
| Total | £ | 204,531 |  |
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| 230/556 PP Children | 41% | Amount | Percentage | ||
| Dedicated Staff Time | £ | 95,895 | 47% | ||
| Enrichment | £ | 6,000 | 2% | ||
| Interventions | £ | 21,421 | 10% | ||
| Curriculum | £ | 41,000 | 20% | ||
| Attendance | £ | 41,888 | 20% | ||
| Total | £ | 206,204 | |||
| Year Group | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | School |
| Pupil Premium | 72 | 53 | 32 | 34 | 39 | 230 |
| Total | 167 | 109 | 83 | 90 | 107 | 556 |
| Percentage | 43% | 49% | 39% | 38% | 36% | 41% |
2018/2019 Evaluation
| Summary information – Evaluation of Class of 2019 | |||||
| School | Grace Academy Coventry | ||||
| Academic Year | 2018/2019 | Total PP Budget | £204,531 | Date of most recent PP Review | 28th June 2019 |
| Total Number of Pupils | 556 | Number of Pupils Eligible for PP | 230 | Date for next review | 20th June 2020 |
| Results for disadvantaged students in 2019 | ||||
| 2019 Eligible for PP | 2018 Eligible for PP | 2017 Eligible for PP | National 2019 | |
| % achieving 4-9 overlap E/M | 58.60% | 44.70% | 39.30% | |
| % achieving 5-9 overlap E/M | 13.90% | 29.80% | 26.80% | |
| Progress 8 average (unvalidated) |
-0.19 | -0.64 | -0.87 | |
| English | -0.40 | -0.39 | -1.07 | |
| Maths | -0.10 | -0.65 | -0.66 | |
| EBacc | -0.40 | -0.93 | -1.19 | |
| Open | 0.10 | -0.52 | -0.54 | |
| Attainment 8 score average (unvalidated) |
3.90 | 3.65 | 3.59 | |
| Barriers to future attainment for pupils eligible for PP | |
| Internal barriers | |
| A | Lower levels of Literacy and/or Numeracy skills for some disadvantaged students, which is resulting in lower progress and attainment levels in KS3 and KS4. |
| B | Pupils who are eligible for disadvantaged funding do not make the highest rates of progress in comparison to all pupils in school in KS3 and KS4. This can be said for more able, disadvantaged students. |
| C | Disadvantaged students make less progress in grade 5 passes including English and Maths. |
| External barriers | |
| D | Lower levels of attendance rates for pupils who are eligible for disadvantaged funding. |
| E | Low levels of aspiration from some families who have pupils who are eligible for disadvantaged funding which impacts upon pupil’s self-esteem and aspiration. |
| F | Generational disengagement of a minority, but a significant proportion of parents, who have not worked in partnership with the Academy in many years and hence parental engagement with them has been an issue for many years |
Strategy for 2019/2020 – Context
For the 2019/2020 academic year, we are striving to build on the significant progress we made during the 2018/2019 academic year. We have split our funding into four different areas: salary, curriculum, intervention and enrichment. The purpose of this is in-line with our barriers: progress, attendance and aspirations.
Some of the key changes and rationale to our 2019/2020 strategy can be found below:
- Pastoral Managers to be set clear, achievable targets that are in-sync with our internal and external barriers. Parent’s information evenings are an example of this. Upon reviewing 2018/2019, we felt that Pastoral Managers could not have been as effective if they did not have these clear goals
- Utilizing our Go4Schools package to monitor and track the progress of our disadvantaged students. We have optimised our Go4Schools so that it highlights within any group our 4 target areas: HPA, Boys, SEN and disadvantaged. We have removed any need for training or CPD by putting these four focal points at the click of a button
- The leadership team but in particular the Assistant Principal for disadvantaged students has a clear understanding of what worked well in the previous year and has a clear picture of the school
- We also continue to draw upon research from the Sutton trust in all of our practices. We have adopted a tiered approach where teaching and learning sits at the top of our whole school approach to improving the outcomes for our disadvantaged students. Many of the strategies we have implemented have been created in unison with the Assistant Principal for Teaching and Learning. Wider strategies which the EEF recommends, like breakfast clubs are also being deployed
| Year Group | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | School |
| Pupil Premium | 77 | 69 | 52 | 32 | 31 | 261 |
| Total | 153 | 170 | 115 | 83 | 89 | 610 |
| Percentage | 50% | 41% | 45% | 39% | 35% | 43% |
Strategy for 2019/2020 – Overview
| Enrichment | ||||||
| Desired Outcome | Actions | Intended Outcome (how will we know if we were successful) |
Led and monitored by (person responsible) | Reporting to | Success Criteria (interim, mid-year, final review) | Cost |
| Increase levels of attainment and progress for disadvantaged funding as they do not make the highest rates of progress in comparison to other pupils in school in KS3 and KS4 | Bespoke after school intervention English and Maths at the centre of this. Early entry exams given priority over core subjects like Religious Studies and Science. English and Maths remain a constant | Progress 8 score to be monitored after every assessment point. Go4Schools has been designed to ‘snapshot’ the data, allowing us to produce an accurate P8 score for years 10 and 11 after every assessment | Assistant Principal – KS4 | Assistant Principal – PP Coordinator | Reviewed at AP1 (2019/2020)
Reviewed at AP2 (2019/2020) Reviewed at AP3 (2019/2020) |
£5,872 (Teacher salary for 1 hour of revision)To be reviewed after Christmas, when time will increase |
| Disadvantaged students make less progress in grade 5 passes including English and Maths. | Bespoke after school intervention English and Maths at the centre of this. Early entry exams given priority over core subjects like Religious Studies and Science. English and Maths remain a constant | Progress 8 score to be monitored after every assessment point. Go4Schools has been designed to ‘snapshot’ the data, allowing us to produce an accurate P8 score for years 10 and 11 after every assessment | Assistant Principal – KS4 | Assistant Principal – PP Coordinator | Reviewed at AP1 (2019/2020)
Reviewed at AP2 (2019/2020) Reviewed at AP3 (2019/2020) |
|
| Improve progress of more able disadvantaged pupils | Coordinator for Most Able pupils to share data on pupil performance with staff after each assessment point and coordinate interventions across all subjects
Provide opportunities which raise aspiration and track these opportunities More able disadvantaged pupils will benefit from this bespoke tracking, monitoring and intervention Raising aspiration improves attendance and attainment Enrichment opportunities tracked and more able disadvantaged students targeted for Brilliant Club, University visits and STEM initiatives Lesson observations evidence stretch and challenge |
Progress 8 score to be monitored after every assessment point. Go4Schools has been designed to ‘snapshot’ the data, allowing us to produce an accurate P8 score for years 10 and 11 after every assessment | HPA Coordinator | Assistant Principal – PP Coordinator | Reviewed at AP1 (2019/2020)
Reviewed at AP2 (2019/2020) Reviewed at AP3 (2019/2020) |
£2,000 |
| Salary | ||||||
| Desired Outcome | Actions | Intended Outcome (how will we know if we were successful) |
Led and monitored by (person responsible) | Reporting to | Success Criteria (interim, mid-year, final review) | Cost (Justification) |
| Increase levels of attainment and progress for disadvantaged funding as they do not make the highest rates of progress in comparison to other pupils in school in KS3 and KS4 | Regular monitoring of the progress of disadvantaged students
Targeted revision classes Parental meetings Extended library hours to support out of hours learning |
Progress 8 score of disadvantaged students to continue to improve above national average. National average for 2018 was -0.4. Grace Academy Coventry’s was -0.64 in 2017/2018 and -0.19 (unvalidated) in 2018/2019. | Assistant Principal – PP Coordinator | Principal | Baseline for Year 10 at AP1 2019 2020
Reviewed at AP2 Reviewed at AP3 Assessed for impact at end of academic year. |
£38,005 |
| Progress 8 score of disadvantaged students to continue to improve above national average. National average for 2018 was -0.4. Grace Academy Coventry’s was -0.64 in 2017/2018 and -0.19 (unvalidated) in 2018/2019. | Assistant Principal – PP Coordinator | Principal | Baseline for Year 11 at AP4 2018/2019
Reviewed at AP1 (2019/2020) Reviewed at AP2 (2019/2020) Reviewed at AP3 (2019/2020) Assessed for impact at end of academic year (2019/2020) |
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| Improve levels of attendance rates for disadvantaged pupils | Bespoke year group tracking and monitoring spreadsheet for each Pastoral Manager
Utilise family support worker, attendance officer and pastoral manager to monitor pupils and follow up quickly on absences and identify patterns Mentoring support offered to encourage higher levels of attendance Reward voucher system for high attendance and improvements in attendance Reward lunch voucher for 100% weekly attendance (targeted at pupil premium students) Students struggling to reach school on time due to long distance travel to be supported with travel costs Parent information evenings Assemblies to celebrate attendance Home visits by Attendance Officer and Pastoral Managers to support attendance Extensive social and emotional support strategies in place, including developing close links with mental health support within school and wider agencies |
Improve attendance for disadvantaged students | Pastoral Managers | Assistant Principal – PP Coordinator | Review every half-term, first half-term as baseline. Monitor appropriate students weekly | £29,465 (20% time spent attendance tracking – of this 15% dedicated to disadvantaged students) |
| Reduce the numbers of persistent absenteeism closer in-line to the 2017/2018 national average of 11.3% (currently 17.31%) | Seta Bassi | Assistant Principal – PP Coordinator | Review every half-term, first half-term as baseline. Monitor appropriate students weekly | |||
| Engage more parents of students from disadvantaged backgrounds | Increased number of parental meetings and parental engagement meetings
Parental ambassadors meet the principal half-termly Arrange separate meetings for parents outside of parents evening dates |
80% attendance from Pupil Premium parents | Pastoral Managers | Assistant Principal – PP Coordinator | Review after each parents evening against target figure | £9,822 (5% of pastoral time dedicated to parental contact) |
| Increase levels of attainment and progress for disadvantaged funding as they do not make the highest rates of progress in comparison to other pupils in school in KS3 and KS4 | Using our teaching assistant to support disadvantaged students in lessons and to lead some intervention sessions | Target group of disadvantaged students to make good progress from starting point (baseline AP1) | SENDCO | Assistant Principal – KS4 | Reviewed at AP1 (2019/2020)
Reviewed at AP2 (2019/2020) Reviewed at AP3 (2019/2020) Assessed for impact at end of academic year (2019/2020) |
£15,812 |
| Intervention | ||||||
| Desired Outcome | Actions | Intended Outcome (how will we know if we were successful) | Led and monitored by (person responsible) | Reporting to | Success Criteria (interim, mid-year, final review) | Cost |
| Improve levels of Literacy and/or Numeracy skills for pupils eligible for disadvantaged funding in KS3 and KS4 |
|
To ensure all catch-up students and Pupil Premium students (7,8,9, 10) make are at least ‘developing’ in their oracy (emerging, developing, secure, excelling) | Literacy Coordinator | Assistant Principal – PP Coordinator | Baseline in October
Reviewed at AP2 as percentage (add date) Reviewed at AP3 as percentage |
£1,824 |
| On average, all catch-up and PP students to improve their Reading Age to within 6 months of the average student in their year where currently they are 8 months | Literacy Coordinator | Assistant Principal – PP Coordinator | Reading ages in October AP1
January April |
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| Every Year 7 catch-up and PP student to have read 100,000 words by the end of the year. | Literacy Coordinator | Assistant Principal – PP Coordinator | Last week of every half term using accelerated reader | |||
| Every Year 8 catch-up and PP student to have read 100,000 words by the end of the year. | Literacy Coordinator | Assistant Principal – PP Coordinator | Last week of every half term using accelerated reader | |||
| Improve levels of attendance rates for disadvantaged pupils | Utilise family support worker Attendance Officer and Pastoral Managers to monitor pupils and follow up quickly on absences and to identify patterns. | Improve attendance for disadvantaged students | Attendance Officer | Pastoral Managers | Review every half-term, first half-term as baseline. Monitor appropriate students weekly | £14,653 (50% of time dedicated to disadvantaged attendance) |
| First day response to absence Mentoring support offered to encourage higher levels of attendance | Improve attendance for disadvantaged students | Family support worker | Pastoral Managers | Review every half-term, first half-term as baseline. Monitor appropriate students weekly | £25,229 | |
| Disadvantaged students to be rewarded with breakfast to attend school earlier Students struggling to reach school on time due to long distance travel to be Pupils cannot make progress if they do not attend. | Improve attendance for disadvantaged students | Family support worker | Pastoral Managers | Review every half-term, first half-term as baseline. Monitor appropriate students weekly | £1,000 | |
| Educational psychologist | Educational psychologist | £4,376 | ||||
| Family support worker | Pupils cannot make progress if they do not attend. The inextricable link between attendance and
attainment needs to be reinforced regularly with pupils, parents and carers. Attendance targets for all students at GAC is 97% |
Family support worker | Pastoral Managers | Attendance reviewed weekly
Trends analysed half-termly |
£25,229 | |
| Improve rates of progress for pupils who are eligible for disadvantaged
funding in years 7 -11 |
After-school intervention sessions
WC: 9th September 2019 1 hour sessions initially Students placed into specific groups based on their individual needs |
Progress 8 score of disadvantaged students to continue to improve above national average. National average for 2018 was -0.4. Grace Academy Coventry’s was -0.64 in 2017/2018 and -0.19 (unvalidated) in 2018/2019. | Assistant Principal – KS4 | Assistant Principal – PP Coordinator | Impact reviewed on subject by subject basis after every assessment point | £25,568 (1 hour of intervention sessions Mon-Thu beginning WC: 9th September 2019) |
| Curriculum | ||||||
| Desired Outcome | Actions | Intended Outcome (how will we know if we were successful) |
Led and monitored by (person responsible) | Reporting to | Success Criteria (interim, mid-year, final review) | Cost |
| Improve levels of aspiration from some families who have pupils who are eligible for Pupil Premium funding to improve self-esteem and aspiration | Whole school focus point | Grade 5’s in English and Maths to increase | HOD | Assistant Principal – PP Coordinator | Reviewed after every assessment point | £1,900 (5% Assistant Principle allocated) |
| Provide targeted support for careers advice and guidance to pupils who may lack awareness of relevant opportunities and raise aspiration | Applications to sixth form and further education to increase | Head of Sixth Form | Assistant Principal – KS4 | Track number of applications throughout the year and cross-reference with 2018/2019 | ||
| Track and monitor attendance and parents information evenings | Attendance of disadvantaged student parents’ at parent evenings to increase | Pastoral Managers | Assistant Principal – PP Coordinator | Review as a percentage after every parents evening/information evening (target 80%) | ||
| Enhanced and wider provision of extra-curricular activities within school and after school activities which are tracked to monitor attendance | Attendance of disadvantaged students at these events to be tracked and monitored | Extra-curricular club leads | Assistant Principal – PP Coordinator | Attendance reviewed weekly
Trends analysed half-termly |
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| Monitoring of pupil attendance at careers opportunities and targeted activities | Half termly students access these opportunities Ethos Days, Career Days, Exam Skills workshops to be organised to raise aspiration and expectations | Ethos team | Assistant Principal – Ethos | Attendance reviewed weekly
Trends analysed half-termly |
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| Regular reward trips to celebrate success which are subsidised for PP students | Attendance of disadvantaged students at these events to be tracked and monitored | Pastoral Managers | Assistant Principal – PP Coordinator | Attendance reviewed weekly
Trends analysed half-termly |
£1,000 | |
| Increase levels of attainment and progress for disadvantaged | Critical Content booklets for each key stage with knowledge, skills and content for each subject provided to pupils to support home learning
Provide resources to disadvantaged students to ensure there is no barrier to their learning |
Progress 8 score of disadvantaged students to continue to improve above national average. National average for 2018 was -0.4. Grace Academy Coventry’s was -0.64 in 2017/2018 and -0.19 (unvalidated) in 2018/2019. | Assistant Principal – KS4 | Assistant Principal – PP Coordinator | Impact reviewed on subject by subject basis after every assessment point | £1,000 |
| £18,900 | ||||||
| Improve progress of more able disadvantaged students | Coordinator for Most Able pupils to share data on pupil performances with staff after each assessment point and coordinate interventions across all subjects | To reduce the gap between achieving most able and lower achieving most able | HPA Coordinator | Assistant Principal – PP Coordinator | Final assessment at the end of 2018/2019 year used to baseline
Tracked at AP1 Tracked at AP2 Tracked at AP3 Monitored for impact against initial baseline using final end of year assessments |
£2,265 |
| Provide opportunities which raise aspiration and track these opportunities centrally to ensure no one is left out so that all able disadvantaged students access these opportunities | To increase the number of more able students going into appropriate levels of post-16 education, training, apprenticeships | HPA Coordinator | Assistant Principal – PP Coordinator | Analysis of 2018/2019 data as baseline
Pupil voice used to track throughout the year Initial final analysis conducted at GCSE results day Final analysis at the start of 2020/2021 academic year |
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| Pastoral managers liaise with parents to support pupil progress of high ability pupils in their year group through: telephone calls, regular meetings, inviting parents in, intervention timetables | To regularly review and revise upward targets if met quicker than predicted | HPA Coordinator | Assistant Principal – PP Coordinator | After each Assessment Point – percentage of students predicted to exceed target analysed, reviewed and revised | ||